Kevin Marx
by mileslacey
Summary: A new villain has emerged who doesn't play by any rules and he's out for blood. He'll use anyone and crush anything that gets in his way.
1. Chapter 1

KEVIN MARX

by mileslacey

(Juche)

CHAPTER ONE

**February 2009**

It took nearly three hours before the construction crew was able to break their way onto the main floor of the mountain lair. When they did so they burst into a rubble strewn room that reminded them of the bridge of a ship because of the way the huge glass and picture windows were arranged and the layout of the various tables and desks. For this reason they nicknamed it the Enterprise Mark II.

A few hours later a tall, grey skinned man with grey eyes found himself standing in the middle of the room, surveying the destruction. His black leather hiking boots crunched on the broken glass and concrete chunks strewn across the floor of the long abandoned lair. A shiver ran down his spine when he saw it because the layout of the main floor of this lair was too much like the smashed up bridge of his ship after the Lorwardians had dealt to it. Only the twisted wreckage that had been a doomsday device and the smashed glass containers with vines growing out of them reminded him he was on _terra firma_. His name was Kevin Marx.

Strewn around the floor were papers and various notebooks. His inspection of a small sample of these papers revealed only the usual minutiae of an office. The notebooks contained technical drawings on how to modify or reverse engineer a device but little that could be called "original", apart from an occasional recipe interspersed between them. The author, whom he presumed was Drakken, was fond of something called Coco-Moo in particular. Like the device the notebooks were of little practical use to him.

Well, almost none.

One notebook caught his eye: a green and black one.

He picked it up from among the rubbish. Examining it he saw the characters キティの日記こんにちは etched on it. Pasted on it was the epitome of Japanese kitsch: a Hello Kitty picture. He idly flicked through the pages.

The diary was written in a childish type of Japanese which showed the writer could communicate competently in the language but not enough to be called fluent. A quick flick through the pages revealed little other than the usual stuff he would expect to read in any diary and the occasional sketch of a nude. Sometimes the nude was female, other times male, but never in a sexual context. They reminded him of the sketches in older medical textbooks: sterile and lifeless.

A thick piece of paper dropped out. The document was in both English and Japanese.

Picking it up from the floor he saw it was a birth certificate of a baby girl named Sharon Kazue Go, born in the city of Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, on September 11th, 1980. Her father was a Drill Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps by the name of Davis Schultz Adams and her mother was a clerk named Kazue Kaoru Go. A faint flicker of a smile crept across his lips. It didn't provide any new information. It merely confirmed what he already knew about a certain super hero turned villain sidekick.

Both the birth certificate and the diary were shoved into a backpack he always carried.

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out an iPhone and dialled a number. To his surprise he heard the phone ringing.

An Asian woman with very distinct cheekbones and freckles sprinkled across her face had walked in while he was flicking through the diary. Dressed in a black and white checkered shirt, a short black skirt and long black wool stockings with black leather boots she looked like the spitting image of an Asian movie cliché but her wardrobe was strictly practical. The room was bitterly cold. Her name was Chen Guiyang but she was known by her Anglicized name Tori.

He handed her the birth certificate from his backpack. 'Find me everything you know about her and her family.'

'Sharon Kazue Go? Isn't that Shego's real name?'

'Yes.'

'I thought you knew her brothers are Team Go from Go City.'

'I don't give a damn about her brothers. It's her parents I'm interested in. I know they were caught up in some sort of dodgy business when they were in Okinawa but I need to find out if there is anything in her background I can use.'

Their conversation was cut off by a construction worker calling out, 'Comrade Marx! We've found a room that you might want to take a look at!'

It was Tori who went in. Only moments after stepping inside what turned out to be a bedroom the roof caved in. Tori dived under the bathroom doorway. Thick dust enveloped her. It was a few minutes before the dust finally settled. The bedroom was cut off from the remainder of the lair by a slab of concrete. Her iPhone rang.

She answered, 'I'm fine. Dirty but fine. While I'm waiting for you guys to get me out I will check out the bedroom. I want to get into this girl's mind.'

Sitting down on the edge of the bed she was surprised to find it was made out of cotton linen rather than a more expensive material like silk. Considering her wealth this was quite a surprise. Using the light from her iPhone as a crude torch she used it to scan the room. The dressing table and drawers were both painted white. Mounted on the dressing table was a no nonsense rectangular mirror with no frame that had miraculously survived the roof collapse. Like everything else in the room it was strictly functional but also quite cheap. It showed a surprising practicality as it made no sense to buy expensive stuff just to have it destroyed when a lair was blown up.

Her dressing table and drawers contained the usual assorted stuff she'd expect any woman to have. The blouses, skirts and underwear were all from Club Banana. There were the usual tubes of lipstick and eyeliner. There were several unused condoms still in their wrappers and a few empty wrappers. This did at least dispel the persistant myth she was a lesbian. The perfumes were all non-alcohol based.

In one of the bottom drawers there was a Japanese passport in Shego's real name. Tucked inside it was about ¥50,000 in cash (roughly $USD496) and an outdated airline ticket to Naha, Okinawa. The only reading materials were trashy celebrity magazines, several Middleton High School yearbooks and a photo album with the captions written in Japanese. Some were of herself, her family and Drakken but most were of teenage super hero Kim Possible.

'Geez, does this woman have a fetish for this red haired girl or what?'

'Pardon, Miss Chen?' A worker asked as he stepped through a hidden emergency door.

Tori was startled but once she had regained her composure she stated, 'Once I've done my inspection you can clear away this rubbish.'

'Recycle everything?'

'Obviously.'

'Ma'am,' the worker said as he left the room, leaving the door open for light.

Tori walked over to the wardrobe and pulled open the doors. Inside there were six identical black and green Harlequin patterned body suits made of a very advanced material similar to Kevlar except that it was temperature controlled. Curious, she decided to change into one of the body suits in the bathroom. She was spooked somewhat by the way the suit moulded itself automatically to her body type, hugging every curve. It also gave her a freedom of movement that impressed her. And it was comfortable. When she accidently banged her knee against the door frame she was genuinely surprised by the fact she didn't feel it. It was as if the suit absorbed the blow. A smile crept across her lips. It did confirm what she had always believed but could never prove. It was the suit, not super powers, that gave her the ability to withstand blows that would've killed most people.

She changed back into her ordinary clothes.

The dresses in the wardrobe were all Club Banana. Like the body suits they were colored black, green or variations thereof. She didn't bother with them. Ditto with the woman's sizeable collection of boots.

She left the bedroom after stuffing the passport and money in her pocket. She called out to the worker who'd walked in on her earlier. 'Bag the body suits and send them to headquarters. Recycle the rest.'

'Yes, ma'am!'

She walked out the emergency door and past the workers who were in the process of digging their way back into the main part of the lair. Unlike the bedroom the main lair had no emergency exits for the practical reason that lairs were usually destroyed by explosions which created their own exits. After letting Marx know she was safe she returned to Middleton to deal with a more pressing problem.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

Bonnie Rockwaller stood in Shego's bedroom, a loaded Beretta 8000 pistol in her hand. Her eyes blurred with tears, her face distorted in anger and pain.

On the king sized bed in front of her lay her boyfriend, Señor Senior Junior, naked except for a pair of pink boxers. His bulging grey blue eyes were as wide as saucers. If his jaw could drop any lower he could've put his fist inside his mouth. Fear was etched in his face as he was quite literally staring down the barrel of a loaded gun.

He now wished that he had not gone down to the small beach that morning after his girlfriend had decided to accompany his ailing father on a shopping expedition to Monaco.

Shego had come to the island for a holiday. Rather than staying at the sprawling mansion she had chosen to stay at a nearby cottage located near an isolated beach where she could go swimming or sunbathe in private. Junior had only wanted to go down to the cottage to ask her if she would join him for a morning training session but when he got there she was nowhere to be seen. On a hunch he walked down to the beach where he was surprised to find Shego sunbathing on the beach, especially as it was still only February and not particularly hot.

Rather than blasting him with her plasma when she caught him checking her out she had simply asked him, 'Hey, Junior, can you put this oil on my back?'

'I'm not sure that's such a good idea. Bonnie would not approve.'

'She's not here. What she doesn't know won't hurt her.'

'Yes, but -.'

'We'll be finished long before she gets back.'

Hesitantly, he grabbed hold of her suntan oil lotion bottle and straddled her. He squeezed the bottle and began to rub the oil into her back. Feeling her smooth pale-green skin and firm muscled body with his hands aroused him. Shego felt the pressing of his manhood against her body but she didn't react, at least not initially. It was only when he began to massage her waist that she finally did something.

She grabbed him by the hand and led him up to her cottage and straight to her bedroom.

Before either of them had even really given much thought to what they were doing both Junior and Shego had yanked off what little they wore and made love on her bed. Afterwards Junior pulled on his boxers. Shego got dressed in her bathroom before returning with an opium pipe. She liked to smoke opium after sex and instinctively asked the man-child if he would like to join her. He agreed with the result he was so stoned that when Bonnie came looking for him at the cottage she was shocked to find Junior in bed with a green skinned woman she didn't immediately recognise.

His Bon-Bon did not scream or even raise her voice. She reached into her purse and pulled out the Beretta 8000 pistol. She fired the thing.

'Bon-Bon, you could've hurt me with that thing,' the tanned man-child squealed fearfully.

Only inches above his head a chunk of headboard and reinforced concrete had been blasted away by the 9x19mm calibre bullet.

Shego had rolled off the bed, yelling angrily, 'Are you friggin' crazy, bitch? You've could've killed me!' She continued to rant but none of her words registered with Bonnie. All her attention was focussed on Junior.

'You promised me you had stopped using crack,' Bonnie stated matter-of-factly as she threw the Beretta 8000 into the corner of the room. 'Not only do I find you doing crack but you're shagging some green whore you flew here from some sleazy European whorehouse.'

'You misunderstand, my little muffin cake,' her boyfriend protested weakly in his squeaky girly voice. 'This is not crack.'

'Perhaps you're smoking vitamins, Junior?' The sarcasm in her voice was cutting.

He gazed down guiltily. 'No, it's opium.'

'And that is supposed to make me feel better, huh?'

'No, I guess not.'

Shego had got back on her feet. Coldly she remarked, 'I'm not a whore. We're just old friends who go way back.'

Bonnie smirked ominously. 'Oh this just gets better.'

'No! You don't understand. Shego is -.'

'Whatever,' the brunette sneered. 'We're through.'

With that she turned and walked out the door. As she made her way towards the heliport she heard a low buzzing. Turning, she saw Señor Senior Senior following her in his motorized scooter, an anguished expression etched on his face.

'What?' Bonnie snapped. 'Are you going to beg me to stay?'

'No, Miss Rockwaller, I do not understand why you would be leaving so suddenly.'

'I caught your son in bed with that green slag.'

'Oh dear,' he answered apologetically. 'My son has brought great disappointment to me and shame to the family through his disgraceful behaviour. I do hope you will reconsider -.'

'Please….' Bonnie never finished her sentence as she burst into a sobbing mess. Tears streamed down her tanned oval face that had attracted so many men. She covered her face with her hands so the old man could not see her cry but he was much too clever for such a ruse. Without a word, he offered her a silk handkerchief which she gratefully accepted.

She sat down on the grass verge and wept while the old man watched; his heart aching at the hurt and betrayal his son had caused this girl.

'I will accompany you to the helipad.'

They returned to the helipad in silence. The helicopter was still being refuelled so they had little choice but to wait. In the meantime they shared a bottle of expensive French wine while gazing out to sea. The sun was beginning to set by the time the pilot said they were refuelled.

Junior didn't bother to show up to beg for her to stay. As the Hispanic girl got in the helicopter she could see the disappointment etched on the man's face.

She had no way of knowing it but the hurt and disappointment was more than the old man could take.

As she flew out to sea he closed his eyes.

And both figuratively and literally he died.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

Tori drove through the dimly lit streets of Lowerton. One in three street lights weren't working and it was beyond any doubt the city was not the sort of place you went to after dark. Gangs drove around in large muscle cars, gangsta rap blaring from their car stereos. On the main road was a string of seedy bars and strip joints. Outside, prostitutes plied their trade. It reminded her of the sleazier parts of her home town back in Taiwan. Even now she found it hard to believe that somewhere like Colorado could have a place like Lowerton.

She found the narrow alleyway where she had been directed by her GPS to go. She parked the car on the street and got out. Feeling the bite of the winter night she pulled on her coat. After locking her car she made her way to the alleyway through a small park filled with assorted rubbish. A statue stood in the middle of the park. Like virtually everyone else she ignored it but the significance of the event the statue commemorated affected every super hero in the United States.

In the dark of the alleyway Tori mused, 'Dark alleyway on a moonlit night in a sleazy neighbourhood. Could this get any more clichéd?'

When she caught a glimpse of herself in a window she rolled her eyes contemptuously. 'Could_ I_ get any more cliched?'

Unexpectedly, a gun was pressed against her head.

'Don't move, bitch,' a silky smooth male voice growled.

She did as he was told. Not so much out of fear for her life but because she was curious just to see how badly clichéd this would become. Indeed, she had to bite down hard on her lower lip to avoid doubling over in a fit of laughter.

'Spread 'em,' Silky Smooth said as he slammed her against the wall and patted her down. He didn't find anything even remotely dangerous on her.

None too gently he pushed her through a side door and frog marched her down a dank, poorly lit hallway that stank of stale cigarette and marijuana smoke and urine.

The handful of people standing around didn't recognise her. Many showered her with the usual sexual innuendo that Asian women like herself were often bombarded with when they went to the wrong parts of town. She was roughly shunted through another door into a seedy apartment where a short, weedy man in his thirties was sitting in an oversized leather chair.

'What are you doing here?' Weedy Man demanded as he put down the newspaper. 'I was expecting Marx.'

'He's otherwise occupied,' Tori replied. 'Whatever you were going to say to him, you can say to me.'

'Very well, then. What's this about hiring construction workers who aren't in my union?'

'We take workers from wherever we can find them.'

'Maybe in whatever shit Chink town you come from but not here in Middleton,' Weedy Man remarked. 'Don't kid yourself, lady. It's not the council that runs these parts. It's me. You can thank the tall green aliens for that.'

'So what's the deal if I'm going to get your co-operation?'

'You hire my guys and you pay me for the privilege. It's that simple.'

'And if I refuse?'

'Smart ass, eh?' Weedy Man got up. He walked over to Tori and drove his fist into the woman's stomach, causing her to double over in pain. 'Maybe that'll convince you I'm not in the comedy business.'

As Tori spat out blood she still managed to smile as she jeered, 'If this scene got any more clichéd we'd be calling it parody.'

'Yeah, but you can't argue with the classics,' Weedy Man said as he punched the thirty-something woman in the face. He followed it up with a few more blows to her ribs and stomach. 'Perhaps we could follow it up with a torture scene? Fancy a little waterboarding?'

'No thanks,' she said as he slammed her hiking boot heel into Silky Smooth's foot, distracting him long enough to give her the time to ram her elbow into the man's stomach, winding him. She kicked the gun out of his hand and sent it flying across the room.

Weedy Man was fast but not fast enough. Tori tripped up the younger man, sending him sprawling across the floor. A boot slammed into the fallen man's face. Blood began gushing from the man's nose.

'You lousy bitch! You broke my bloody nose!' Weedy Man screamed in a high-pitched whining voice.

'It's not the only thing I'm going to break,' she remarked coldly as he pulled the younger man to his feet by his hair and smashed her fist hard into the bridge of the man's nose. A piece of broken bone penetrated his brain, killing him. Letting go, Weedy Man crashed to the floor, lifeless.

Turning to Silky Smooth, she said, 'Get out.'

Silky Smooth did so.

Tori was in no hurry. She sat down in the sofa and read the front page of the newspaper. A small article caught her attention: "Multi-Billionaire Señor Senior Senior dies Aged 88."

She tore out the newspaper article and walked out the door whereupon she was showered with the same limited range of sexually explicit epitaphs that she had been bombarded with when she had arrived.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

It had been Junior who'd found his father's body beside the helipad. It was obvious, even to him, that his death had been due to natural causes. After informing Shego the two contacted the French authorities and waited with the deceased man until the medical examiner arrived. He confirmed that Senior had been killed by a stroke. Once the formalities had been completed Shego returned to her villa on the Aegean island of Kaos.

Upon walking into the living room she switched on the television.

'Señor Senior Senior was best known for his TV role as the evil dictator Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino in the short-lived TV drama _Nightmare State_,' the television announcer solemnly stated. 'In recent years Senior became more well known as a villain who gained a reputation as a gentleman villain who was respected by both super heroes and villains alike.

Shego switched off the television.

She walked out to the balcony of her Greek villa. She liked to watch the sun rise behind the hills across the bay. It was one of those beautiful postcard scenes that tourist offices worldwide loved to use for their promotions. When she moved here two years ago Drakken had come here with her. She liked just standing here, his flower vines wrapped around her, enjoying his presence. Now she was bored and lonely since Drakken had accepted the United Nations pardon and got snatched up by some university in some shit town she couldn't pronounce.

Their relationship had ended acrimonously shortly after he got the university job because she didn't want to be a university lecturer's assistant.

Yeah, so she had accepted a pardon for saving the world. Now she was unemployable. The villains didn't trust her any more and no legitimate employer would consider an ex-con, even a pardoned one, for a job, especially one with her skin tone. She still bristled when she remembered what an employer had told her when she had applied for a job working at a karaoke bar: 'No one wants to be entertained by a girl who looks as if she's going to puke on them.'

She slipped off the black dress she wore and let it fall to her feet.

Naked, she walked off to her sauna where she sat down on a beach and let the steam work its magic, cleansing her pores, soothing her bitterness and relaxing her.

The phone rang.

She grabbed it, groggily answering, 'Yes?'

'Good morning, Sharon.'

She almost fell off the bench when she heard _that _voice. 'Kevin Marx? What the hell do you want?'

'Come now, is that the way to greet one of your fellow villains?'

Shego jeered, 'In case you haven't received the memo I'm no longer in the villainy business.'

'Yeah, I heard you took the pardon. I also hear you hang out in sleazy bars picking up random strangers for one night stands because you're so bored. Well, I'm here to offer you a deal to rrturn to the villainy business.'

'I'm not interested.'

'Not evven for $20 million?'

Shego perked up. If anyone was offering that sort of money it was always a good idea to pay attention. 'Go on,' she said.

'I want your help to take down Kim Possible.'

Shego gulped. $20 million to take down the Princess was a lot of money and with the money she lost on the stock market back in October the previous year she really could do with that money. On the other hand she was also aware of the backlash she could expect from the super hero community and the likes of Global Justice if she did take her down. And she was also aware of rumours doing the rounds in the Japanese Yakuaza that a blond master of monkey kung fu who matched Ron Stoppable's description was causing them trouble in central Japan, although officially he was dead. If there was any truth to those rumours then she didn't want to be on the receiving end of his fury. That night he took down Warhok and Warmonga single-handedly was the moment she realised just how dangerous he could be.

'I'm still not interested,' she stated.

Marx answered incredulously, 'Why?'

'You don't need me to take down the Princess. She may think she's all that but she's not.'

Marx guffawed. 'Considering the number of times she handed your butt to you on a plate I find that very hard to believe.'

'She won most of the time because I let her.'

'Seriously?' His tone of voice left no doubt he didn't believe her.

'She may have known sixteen types of kung fu but that doesn't mean she had mastered them. Many of her moves owed more to cheerleading than any martial art I know of.'

'But -.'

'Listen to me, Marx! You don't need me to take her down. If I really wanted to destroy her I would've done so long ago but she was great fun to banter with and fight. Of course, I couldn't let Drakken know I wasn't trying to take her down because he would've killed me. I had to let myself get kicked around to make it look as if she really was all that.'

There was silence on the other end of the line. Then Marx said, 'If what you say is true then this should be the easiest $20 million you've ever made.'

'Still not interested.'

'Very well. If that is the way you want to play it then I can't force you to fight her if you don't want to.'

'Finally! You get the message!'

Marx hung up.

She sat on the bench for a few minutes, contemplating the offer she had just turned down. It had been a tough decision but it was the best decision for her. No one had ever offered such generous terms like that without a catch somewhere and Kevin Marx never sacrificed that sort of money unless he was certain he would make a return further down the line. Unless...

'Shit!'

Marx hadn't called her to ask her to take down Kim Possible. He knew damned well all along she wouldn't take the money. He was pumping her for information. That did not bode well for the teenage super hero.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

Dr Drew Theodore Lipski, a.k.a Drakken, was in the hotel suite bathroom. The former super villain had gone to a lot of trouble to make sure he was dressed appropriately for the funeral because he was determined to make a big impression on those who arrived so he had made an effort to clean himself up. Like many other people attending Senior's funeral they weren't attending to mourn the old man but to network with other current and former villains without the risk of having their gathering gatecrashed by super heroes. It paid to look one's best.

As he left the bathroom he gazed at his image in the full length mirror installed on the bathroom door. He liked what he saw. Gone were the perennial black eyes and the flabby physique. His mullet was gone, replaced with a number two haircut. Even his wardrobe had changed. A black Armani suit replaced his blue overcoat. His scar, though, had become a hideous gash after some punk with a machete had slashed him across the face on campus. There was little he could do about his blue skin but it no longer bothered him.

His assistant, Frugal Lucre, gushed sycophantically, 'You look excellent, Drakken. You always look excellent!'

'I do, don't I.' Drakken bragged. 'When I arrive they'll take notice because I'm back, baby.'

They left the hotel together and walked down the street towards the church in a confident manner that impressed those who saw them. On the other hand neither man was particularly impressed with the town. Everything here struck Drakken as both dusty and run down. Old cars lined both sides of the street and it seemed as if every second car had someone under the hood, making repairs, and a lot of the shops looked rather worse for wear, although they seemed to be doing a busy trade.

The road ended at a large plaza where the town's biggest building, the Catholic church, was located. The plaza was already full of people, including the media, mourners and villains. The funeral wasn't expected to begin for at least another hour.

Drakken knew only some of the villains but all the ones who mattered were here. Professor Dementor, Duff Killigan, Camille Leon, Gemini and DNAmy had all turned up. Although most of the villains didn't know Senior it was considered to be good form for them to turn up to the funeral of one of their own, mostly because it was so rare that one of their own died from natural causes. Of course, they were also here plotting and scheming to steal everything the deceased possessed to pay for their latest world domination scheme or, in the case of DNAmy, try to find a way to bring Monkey Fist back to life.

Drakken hissed, 'If Senior was here I doubt he would be impressed with the majority of these third rate losers. Speaking of which, where the hell is my cousin Ed?'

The blue-skinned man slapped his forehead as he heard a booming voice cry out, 'Dude! You look totally awesome, man! Seriously!'

Motor Ed walked over to his cousin and gave him a big hug. 'How's university life treating you?'

'Okay.'

'Let's go inside, dude. Seriously! You're so going to make an impression when you walk in there.'

Motor Ed accompanied him into the church. As the media descended upon them the huge muscular man pushed them aside, snarling, 'Move aside, everyone! Seriously, you're cramping our style!' He pushed aside the blonde VillianNews reporter Adrena Lynn as she shoved a camera in his face and fired a barrage of questions at him.

As he passed a Mexican TV crew he cried out in Spanish, 'En serio, amigos! ¡Fuera de nuestro camino, por favor! _En serio!_' Wisely, they got out of his way.

In the church foyer the three men were greeted with stunned silence. It was Professor Dementor who spoke up first when he stated sarcastically in German, 'Nun, ich werde verdammt werden. Drakken hat von Superschurken zu mittleren Alters Corporate Lakai gegangen. Und in seinem hübschen kleinen Handlanger aussehen!'

Motor Ed grabbed the tiny man and growled, 'If you're going to insult my cousin, dude, do it in English. Seriously.' He pushed the man aside.

Dementor muttered something unrepeatable then stormed off into the church proper.

Duff Killigan walked over, his face etched in that perenially peeved expression for which he was famous. He remarked, 'Goot god almighty, yoo haave really cleaned up, eh, Drakken?'

'Yeah, you like?' Drakken said with an evil grin that intimidated even Killigan.

'Och, it makes ye look diff'rent, blue boy.'

Motor Ed grabbed the Scotsman by the throat and hauled the short, fat man up until they were face to face.

'You need to show my cousin some respect, Duff. His name is _Doctor _Drakken or Drew. Don't ever disrespect him by calling him that name again. _Seriously_!'

A priest rushed over to the two men and pleaded with them, 'Please, Señors, no fighting! Have some respect for the deceased and the sanctity of the church.'

Drakken glared at the priest with ill-disguised contempt. 'Get back inside the hall and do whatever it is you priests do and mind your own business. This is a matter between Killigan and my cousin Ed.'

The priest scurried off while Drakken seperated the two squabbling men. 'For crying out loud, Cousin Ed! Don't you ever know when enough is enough? Seriously!'

Irritably, the blue skinned man snatched the funeral programme from the usher and walked into the church proper, flanked by a grumbling Motor Ed and an unusually quiet Lucre.

The majority of the pews were already full with mourners. The three men took a seat in one of the front pews behind Senior's relatives. Several minutes later Shego walked into the church. Unlike most of the other villains she hadn't stayed overnight at one of the hotels but had flown straight to the funeral by jet. Her eyes betrayed her exhaustion as it had been a gruelling twelve hour flight from her villa to Mexico.

Yet she left one heck of an impression on the mourners in her sheer black dress, black high heel shoes and black lace veil.

When she saw Drakken she gushed, 'Wow! You've changed since we last - .'

'Wow! You look totally hot, babe!' Motor Ed bellowed admiringly. 'I so totally want to do you!'

A few people giggled but most of the mourners gasped in outrage as Shego fired up her plasma flames.

'Obviously, not here and now! Seriously, that would be totally disrespectful. I meant _after _the funeral. Doing it now would be totally disrespectful.'

Shego hissed, 'If you even think about laying a hand on me I will blast you to hell.'

'Whoa, there, hot green babe! Sheesh.'

Shego calmed down somewhat and took a seat next to Junior, who simply stated, 'Thanks for coming to Pappy's funeral.' To Drakken's obvious disgust he put his arm around Shego.

Lucre unexpectedly launched into a tirade against Shego. 'Oh, look, Drakken! That hussy, Shego, that really, _really_ annoying sidekick who broke your heart and ripped it up in front ofyou because she was so jealous of your success. And now she's all over that dimwitted idiot Jun-.'

Motor Ed knocked him out.

Shego thanked him as the priest walked over to Junior to explain what the proceedings were going to be. On the alter the choir singers were taking their seats.

After a few minutes of listening to the priest babbling to him in Spanish Junior threw his hands in frustration, saying, 'Bueno, lo que sea, hacer lo que sea que usted lo hace. Sólo dime cuándo es el momento para que yo hablara.' He yawned audibly as the priest returned to the alter.

At the back of the church Junior's ex-girlfriend Bonnie walked in. He watched as she took a seat at the back of the church. She looked very much like the traditional mourning Catholic woman in her angle length dress and black shoes. For headwear she wore a hat with a black veil covering her face.

From the alter the priest announced, 'Nos hemos reunido aquí para despedida Señor Mayor Sr fallecido...'

With everyone's attention focussed to the alter no one noticed Marx walk in and sit down next to Bonnie.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

During the funeral Bonnie noticed the man dressed in a black suit next to her paid no attention to the funeral other than to stand when everyone else did and sing the hymns. He spent most of the time reading a notebook from back to front, or so it seemed to her. Occassionally, he scribbled notes but she couldn't understand them because they were written in a foreign alphabet. Once it was over, he snapped shut the notebook and introduced himself.

'I'm Kevin Marx.'

Bonnie replied with a slight tremble in her voice, 'Bonnie Rockwaller.'

'You knew him well?'

'Yes.'

'I didn't.' He admitted. 'It just seemed the right thing to do to attend the funeral of a man I admired from afar. You sound American. You have that distinct Mid-Western tone of voice.'

She blushed. 'I'm from Colorado.'

'Really? I'm currently working in Middleton. Ever been there?'

'It's my home town.' She announced with pride. 'The Rockwallers were one of the founding families of the city.'

'Then you would be familiar with Kim Possible.'

The girl rolled her eyes contemptuously. 'Well, duh! You can't go anywhere without hearing "Kim this" or "Kim that". It's, like, so totally annoying. She might be some big super hero and she was captain of my high school cheerleading team but she is such a slut. She, like, went out with the school loser Ron Stoppable until he got himself killed in that plane crash in Japan. If she wanted to she could've done so much better.'

'It sounds to me as if there's more to your dislike for Kim than her choice of boyfriend.'

Bonnie's expression went dark as Junior and Shego walked past them. 'She set me up with that cheating, drug addicted bastard who cheated on me with that skanky green whore!'

Shego stopped in her tracks. 'What did you call me?'

Marx watched as Bonnie repeated in some very colourful language what she thought of the green skinned lady. Infuriated, Shego fired several plasma blasts at the Hispanic girl. To both his and Shego's surprise the girl was able to avoid the blasts with the clever aplication of both classical ballet and cheerleading moves.

'Impressive moves,' he remarked to himself. To Shego, he called out, 'You might want to save your plasma blasts for those closer to you, especially when I tell them that you let Kim Possible win most of her fights because you,' he paused as he chose his next few words very carefully, 'have a schoolgirl crush on her.'

Drakken turned on her. His expression had become much darker. The gash on his face seemed to open up as his face screwed up into a nasty scowl. 'Is what he saying true, Shego?'

Shego snarled, 'Are you going to take the word of a third rate petty criminal over mine?'

Drakken hesitated. 'I have no reason not to believe you.'

'Except that you don't need take my word for it,' Marx stated, a devilish grin lighting up his ashen grey face. He held up Shego's diary for everyone to see. He took particular delight in seeing the colour in Shego's face turn many shades paler. 'You can read it for yourself, if any of you numbskulls can read Japanese.'

'I can read Japanese,' Drakken replied. Facing Marx he said coldly, 'Hand me that diary.'

Marx threw the diary high into the air. 'Go, fetch, Dr. D.'

Drakken and Shego rushed for it. Two years earlier Shego's dexterity would've easily given her the advantage but the older man had been working out. He shoved her hard enough to knock her off her feet as he snatched the diary from the air.

'Check out the entry for Wednesday, 28th February. You will find it very enlightening.'

Shego got back on her feet and made a grab for the diary but Lucre tripped her up, sending her sprawling across the floor. Motor Ed pinned her down, using his bulk. The manner in which he had her pinned down meant she couldn't use her plasma power without doing serious harm to herself.

'Don't move, babe.' Motor Ed growled.

Drakken turned to the diary entry. He read it then read a few more random passages before slamming the book shut. His expression had turned very dark. Dark enough to make even Motor Ed remark nervously, 'I haven't seen Cousin Drew this peeved since Red defeated his Diablo plans.'

He walked over to Shego and kicked her in the face with such savagery that she yelped with pain. He threw the diary down and snarled, 'If I ever see you again, you treacherous bitch, I will kill you.'

He walked out of the church, flanked by Junior, Lucre and Motor Ed. Once they were gone Shego sat up and spat out some blood and a couple of teeth. Marx walked over to her to help her up.

She hissed, 'Leave me alone, you bastard!'

'You had your chance, Sharon. Now I suggest you stay out of my way if you know what's best for you.'

'Screw you, Marx!'

Marx punched her out cold.

He stepped over her body and left the church. Once Bonnie got over the shock she followed him.

They walked across the plaza towards the fountain in the middle. He took a seat on the edge while he watched a group of kids splashing about. One of them splashed him. He jumped into the fountain and splashed the kid back. Next thing he was splashing around with the kids. Bonnie was impressed. A man with a killer right hook who was just as at home clowning around with kids and enjoying himself. Eventually, he climbed out and walked over to Bonnie with a mischevious gleam in his eyes.

She backed away from him. 'What are you up to, Mr Marx?'

He scooped her up and carried her over to the fountain, despite her protests, and dropped her into the water. She was back on her feet in no time and joined Marx in splashing around with the kids until a helicopter that was larger than anything Bonnie had ever seen landed in the plaza, kicking up a large cloud of dust. The children in the fountain were stunned, unable to believe that such huge helicopters existed.

The door was opened and stairs were lowered. Marx waved goodbye to the kids as he began to board. He called out, 'Hasta luego, chicos! Es hora de que me vaya.' To Bonnie he said, 'I'm heading back to Middleton. You want to come back with me?'

The impressionable girl didn't need any prodding. She got on board. The door was closed. While Bonnie took a seat in the main cabin Marx took a seat next to Tori in the cockpit, relieving the other pilot who ambled off to the back of the helicopter.

'With Weedy Man out of the picture I take it the union has come round?'

Tori stated, 'The membership will co-operate but we had to increase the pay to $12.50 an hour for the lower end workers. I crunched the numbers. It's within budget.'

Once the helicopter was flying at cruising speed towards the Mexican border Marx called out to Bonnie, 'There's a bunk and some spare clothes in the back in one of the cupboards.'

It was the last thing he said to her until they were back in the United States. In the meantime she got changed into dry clothes and hung her wet clothes in the bathroom until the other pilot told her the helicopter had dry cleaning!


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

Shego couldn't believe that Marx had punched her in the face at Senior's funeral. Even more frightening was that when she tried to flame up her plasma she couldn't do it. It was terrifying but only temporary. However, by that time, he'd left town with that bitch Bonnie in his Mil Mi-8 helicopter.

As she made her way to her kitchen to grab herself a drink she suddenly had the feeling she was being watched. She opened her fridge and grabbed herself a drink. The power went out as the refrigerator door slammed shut.

'Hello, Sharon,' Marx said.

She stepped back, taken by surprise by his almost magical appearance in the kitchen. Lighting up her green plasma she cried out, 'How the hell did you get into my kitchen?'

He didn't so much as blink an eyelid.

'I'm a lot tougher than I was back when I was in Team Go so back off!'

'That's not my style,' he answered coldly. 'Hanging around Junior and sleazy bars for too long has made you weak.'

'I'm not weak.'

'Prove it,' he said. 'Kill me.'

'My pleasure!' Shego cried out as she fired a green plasma blast at him. To her surprise he fired his own plasma blast that took out her plasma blast. She stammered, 'What the heck...? Since when...? How did...?'

Marx replied, 'Strange thing happened on the day your tree hut got hit by a multi-coloured comet. My council bedsit back home got hit by a black and white comet but there's not much demand for super heroes in my home country. Heck, police officers back home don't even carry guns.'

Angrily, she fired plasma blast after plasma blast but he took out each one with such ridiculous ease that it was making her angrier by the minute, especially as her villa was being blasted to smithereens by her own feeble attempts to kill him.

'Damn it! Why can't you stand still?' She screamed in frustration.

'It doesn't work like that, Sharon,' he said.

'Stop calling me that name! My name is Shego. S-H-E-GO!' Blindly, she rushed at him in a rage but a bare foot tripped her up and sent the woman crashing into her dining room table.

Tori slammed her knee into the woman's throat, making her choke.

Calmly, the Taiwanese woman removed the short and incredibly sharp dagger from her khaki skirt pocket. She smiled as she raised the dagger, making sure the prostrate woman could see exactly what she intended to do.

But, as Tori brought down her hand Marx grabbed her wrist.

'I said I need her alive.'

'Why? We've got all the information we need about Kim Possible.'

'We're taking her for insurance, not information.'

He held out his hand and pulled the battered, terrified woman to her feet. None too gently he dragged her out by the scruff of her neck. Tori followed closely behind them, her dagger still in her hand, ready to use it if Shego so much as hinted at making a run for it or getting up to anything.

They didn't bother with shoving her in the back seat of any car but walked slightly behind her. Two henchmen wearing black unforms with khaki caps and belts were covering her. Marx had made sure their instructions to shoot to kill if she made a run for it was heard by the green skinned woman. For once, Shego obeyed because she had heard rumours these guys were trained by French Foreign Legion Commanders in Africa.

Nearby a helicopter landed. Tori escorted her onto the helicopter and pushed her down on a seat. Wrist and ankle manacles automatically snapped shut, securing her to the seat. Then Tori took a seat next to her. She took out some kléftiko and offered it to Shego, which she only accepted after Tori took a bite from it.

As Marx climbed on board he warned her, 'Don't get any ideas about firing up the plasma,' he cautioned her. 'The wrist cuffs will fire 50,000 volts into you if you try to flare up.'

'Geez, thanks,' she jeered

Marx waited until the two boyguards were on board then shut the door. The helicopter rose up from the ground.

'Why have you taken her alive?' Tori shouted above the noise of the rotors.

'In a word: leverage,' he shouted back. 'Kim and Shego are professional adversaries but I have a very strong feeling that if word got out that Shego's life was on the line Kim would try to rescue her. That's what I'm counting on.'

'What will you do with her in the meantime?'

He said, 'I've got friends in the right places who will ensure she will be in no position to cause us any problems.'

'We could just drop her over the Aegean Sea somewhere.'

'It'll be an option once we've got Kim Possible.'

He let the threat hang in the air, knowing it would further demoralise the green skinned woman, if that was possible.

The drug in the kléftiko that had rendered her impassive had worn off after a few hours. Both Marx and Tori were over-tired after all the travelling they had done over the last week or so, which Shego had detected immediately.

As the helicopter landed Tori accidently released the manacles too early. Shego seized the moment: she kicked the woman in the face, forcing her to drop her knife. She then smacked Marx with a single right hook to the face. Dazed, Marx tried to grab his pistol from inside his jacket and block the door but Shego fired a plasma blast that blew it open. Caught by the sudden rush of air he lost his balance and fell out the doorway, followed by Shego. The woman landed on her feet and dashed for the nearby hanger. She never looked back.

Gun shots and yelling could be heard but she didn't care. It didn't take long for her old instincts from her days as a world renowned thief to come back. Her immediate concern was to find cover: as long as she was in the open she could get a bullet in the head if the two security guards were as good with their guns as she suspected.

Only once she reached the narrow back streets of the nearby Greek town did she feel safe enough that she could rest and figure out what to do next.

She hoped the town she was walking through had the two things she needed: a payphone and a café. As luck would have it, it had a cafe on the main road and it was still open. She walked in and asked the waiter, 'Échete éna ti̱léfo̱no?'

'Nai , kyría mou . Eínai ekeí péra. Tha chreiasteíte mia ti̱lefo̱nikí̱ kárta gia na to chri̱simopoií̱sete ómo̱s.'

'Dó̱se mou mia kárta Á€20. Ef̱charistó̱.'

'Oríste, kyría mou.'

She called the one person she hoped she would never need to call but her call got put through to Kim Possible's computer geek friend, Wade Load.

'It's Shego. I need to speak to Kim _now_!'

Once Wade got over the initial shock he said, 'I'll try to put you through but she's in class so she might not answer straight away.'

'Just do it!'

It took several critical minutes before she finally got put through.

Author's Note: Kim Possible makes her debut in the next chapter.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

Her Kimmunicator beeped.

Teen super hero Kim Possible ignored it and continued to run up the steps of the Chemins des Revoires, the toughest stretch of her afternoon run from the International University of Monaco. The steep steps climbed up the slopes of Mount Argel to a height of 161 metres about sea level. It was a tough climb but it gave her a workout that helped to keep her fit.

It was late afternoon and she had been caught out by an unexpected downpour. Her cheerleading outfit was sopping wet and because it was predominately white with red trimmings, to match the red and white colours of the AS Monaco football team, it revealed a little too much of her body.

'Great! I'm so going to need to rethink my "No Bra" policy,' she grumbled as she passed a couple of local Monegasque boys who wolf-whistled her as she jogged by.

Like most girls Kim had at least one part of her body she didn't like and, in her case, it was her breasts. Like most of the women on her mother's side of the family her breasts were quite small so she was largely ignored by the guys at high school, who preferred the more well-endowed girls like Bonnie and Monique. Even here the guys barely noticed her because her cleavage was so small, or so it seemed to her. It was her intention to get some breast surgery so she could make them a little bigger once she had saved up some money.

Her Kimmunicator beeped again. 'Not now, Wade!' She grumbled.

She ignored the beeping until she walked into the apartment she shared with her best female friend Monique. From the living room she could hear the stereo blaring away. It was some French hip hop group that had taken a liking to.

She cried out, 'Honey, I'm home!'

'In the living room, girlfriend!'

Kim poked her head into the living room where her Afro-American friend was working on a costume for her fashion class assignment. 'I'll be in the bathroom. I got soaked.'

'Need some clean clothes to be brought in?'

'Please and thank you,' Kim said as she disappeared into the bathroom.

She stripped out of her wet cheerleading uniform and jumped into the shower.

Her Kimmunicator beeped. The latest version was strapped to her wrist and so light that she routinely forgot that she had it on when she had a shower so when she answered it with her trademark 'What's the sitch, Wade?' he saw much more of her than he intended. This sitch had happened enough times that it no longer bothered her.

'Are you in the shower?' Wade Load, her computer friend, asked.

'Yes.'

'You've got a call from Shego. She says it's urgent.'

'Put her through.'

'Hey, Princess. I'm calling from a pay phone in Greece.' Her speech was slurred from the effects of the drugged food that hadn't totally worn off yet. 'I really need somewhere to hide.'

Kim protested, 'What's that got to do with me?'

A voice that sounded as if it had come from the grave stated hoarsely, 'I had an altercation with a couple of villains and just narrowly avoided being used as super hero bait.'

'Who did they think you would attract?'

'You,' the woman said, her voice trembling. 'There's a really nasty piece of work hunting you down. Ever heard of Kevin Marx?'

'Who's he?'

Wade answered, 'He's the CEO of the Organisation of Recyclers and Retrievers, that organisation that moved into Middleton to rebuild it. He's also a former pirate whose reputation is so fearsome that Kim Jong-Il let him walk out of a North Korean concentration camp because the guards preferred to throw themselves against the electric fence rather than spend an hour in a room with him. At least that's one of the stories I heard about him.'

'No one could be that bad,' Kim scoffed.

Shego replied, 'If it was anyone else I'd never believe it but I've seen Marx in action. He's the only villain who could do that. After all, he took both me and my brothers down _single-handed_. Without his comet powers.'

Kim stepped out of the shower and wrapped both her body and her hair in towels. 'He must be good. Still, it doesn't explain why you need my help.'

'If I don't find somewhere safe either he or his headhunters will track me down and kill me.'

'For old time's sake I think we could arrange something.' Kim stated as Monique walked in and placed dry clothes on a bench and walked out with the wet clothes. She suggested, 'There must be a safe house somewhere we can place Shego until this guy Marx loses interest.'

Wade answered, 'We could hand her over to Global Justice. They've got a witness protection programme. Betty Director owes me a few favours so I think she will go along with the idea.'

'Please and thank you.'

'While that'll help me it's not going to help you, Princess.' Shego stated, 'Marx wants you dead.'

'So do a lot of villains,' Wade remarked sourly.

Kim suddenly exclaimed, 'Wait? Did you say he has comet powers?'

'Yip. And he also has one hell of a right hook. You really want to avoid that. My ears are still ringing from the one he gave me the other day at Senior's funeral.'

'Geez, he sounds like a real gentleman.'

'He's not some loser who gets his kicks by beating up women. He would've punched me out cold even if I was a dude.'

'Still...'

Shego's voice became anxious. 'There's another thing. Unlike those losers you normally deal with Marx has never been -.'

The phone went dead.

Wade remarked, 'I traced the call to a small town in Greece. I'll send the details to your car's GPS system.'

'Give me a few minutes to change.'

Wade paused for a moment then said, 'Kim? Be careful. Shego's not one to be intimidated so if she's scared of him you should be too.'

Kim chided, 'He's never encountered the awesome power of my puppy dog pout.'

Wade didn't laugh.

He just cut the connection.

Dashing into the living room Kim cried out, 'Monique? We've got a mission!'


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

'Shit!' She swore just as the window shattered, showering the terrified patrons with broken glass. Tori was there with her pistol and she had one person in her sights.

Shego didn't hesitate. She wasn't going to stick around to give Tori a second chance to kill her. She was also damn certain that where Tori was, Marx wasn't far behind. She rushed through the kitchen, brushing aside assorted stuff as she did so, although what they might achieve in reality she didn't know.

She crashed through the back door, knocking a delivery boy out cold. She jumped into a delivery truck from the passenger side and yelled to the driver, 'Out!'

The terrified driver leapt out as Shego slid into the driver seat. She slammed the accelerator down and hurtled down the alleyway. At the entrance she saw Marx calmly raising his pistol. He fired once, shattering the windscreen, then leapt out of the way as she thundered past him and swung into the heavy traffic, bringing forth a barrage of unrepeatable Greek swearing and horn blaring.

She didn't take her foot off the accelerator for the thirty minute drive from Kato Achaia to Patras in case Marx was still in pursuit. It was only when Shego arrived in Patras that she finally slowed down. She abandoned the truck in a side street. Less than an hour later she was on the ferry to Ancona in Italy.

As the vessel sailed through the harbour a business jet with the colours of the Organisation streaked over the vessel, causing the green skinned woman an anxious few seconds. Once it was obvious the aircraft wasn't coming back she ordered herself a bottle of Killigan's Scotch whiskey and retired to the Internet lounge so she could contact Kim.

She had to assume Marx or Tori had checked the phone but she had to call Kim.

Instead she got Wade.

'I need to speak to Kim,' she barked to the teenage boy.

He answered apologetically, 'She's on a mission and can't be disturbed under any circumstances.'

'Listen, Nerdlinger, I just managed to avoid having my brains splattered by Marx's mad Asian bitch.'

Wade answered more forcefully, 'Even if I wanted to I can't contact her. Where are you now?'

She gestured with a look over her shoulder, known in both the super hero and villain communities as the "German look". It was a code to indicate it wasn't safe to speak freely. 'I'll be arriving in Italy tomorrow by ferry.'

'Okay, I'll sort something out. Just let me know what ferry you're on.'

After telling him the name of the vessel she cut off the call.

There wasn't much to do on the ferry but she desperately needed some clothes so she went off to explore the few shops that were on board. One of them was a Club Banana store so she took a look around and found herself a pair of jeans, a large cotton shirt and some underwear. After a shower and changing into her new clothes she returned to the main deck where she parked herself at the bar. She had to be careful when drinking alcohol because one of the side effects created by the comet was that if alcohol was dropped on her skin it would burn.

Eventually, she walked out on deck. It was now sunset and she walked out onto the main deck, the exhaustion of a crazy couple of weeks finally catching up with her. She crashed onto a deck chair. There was no opportunity to fall asleep because she was joined by a boy who asked her, 'Can I buy you a drink?'

'Do you always hit on older women?'

'I'm not as young and you're not as old as you seem to think.'

'It's been a crazy time for me lately and I'm really tired.' Shego groaned.

Before she had a chance to say anything more the boy took off his shirt to reveal a muscular chest. Not one like Junior, which had been created through the use of steroids, but the sort of muscles that came from physical labour. Without even thinking about it she took him by his hand and dragged him down to her cabin.

Shego cried out as the orgasm swept through her body, causing her to tremble violently. Once it had subsided she let the naked muscled man behind her kiss her tenderly on her shoulders and neck. They lay down on the double bed together as they talked about their lives.

He was going to a university in Rome where he was studying for his Masters in Archaeology because he wanted to follow in the footsteps of Lara Croft and Indiana Jones. She only said she had once been part of a team of super heroes until she decided to "try out life on the other side". They made love a second time before he left for his own cabin.

The next morning she woke up and had a quick shower before getting dressed. She had done some shopping with the boy before the shops had closed the previous night and he had talked her into buying a nice dark green skirt, a black and green blouse and black stockings. She checked herself out in the life sized mirror on the wardrobe door and smiled appreciatively. The bruises had healed themselves by now and gave her face a more seductive appeal.

Or was it the great sex that gave her that glow?

When she left her cabin the ferry was docking into the terminal.

She shoved the clothes she was wearing when she boarded in a rubbish bin then made her way to the main deck where everybody who didn't have a car was waiting for the gangway to be lowered. But, as the doors swung open, the passengers found themselves confronted by several heavily armed gendarmes who bellowed, 'Ognuno scendere sul ponte ora! Mani dietro la testa! Affrettatevi! Non abbiamo tutto il giorno!'

The passengers did as they were told except for Shego, who lit up her green plasma fire. She watched the gendarmes as they pointed their guns at her, studying their faces. Then she extinguished the fire before laying down on the floor.

She was hauled to her feet and informed curtly, 'Sei in arresto con l'accusa di omicidio. Hai il diritto di rimanere in silenzio, ma se si sceglie di dire nulla sarà utilizzato contro di lei in tribunale. Hai diritto a un avvocato, ma se non si può permettere un difensore pubblico verrà offerto.' Then he escorted her off the ferry. The customs officials waved her through after a cursory check of her passport. Her escort aroused a considerable degree of interest from the passengers waiting to board the vessel.

None too gently they pushed her into the back seat of an unmarked car. Two of the gendarmes sat on either side of her. It sped off for the centre of town.

'Where are you taking me?'

No one answered.

'Am I under arrest?'

No answer.

The car pulled into an underground garage then stopped.

One of the gendarmes said, 'Across the road is the Hotel Milano. We've booked a room for you under the name Sharon Adams. It's paid for but don't go anywhere until Team Possible says otherwise.' He paused before adding, 'Someone must really like you.'

They let her out of the car. Without saying anything she left the garage and ran across the road to the hotel. Sure enough the booking had been made under the name and she was given the keys to her room.

The room was big with a great view of the harbour. It had a separate bedroom and a spa bath in the living room. She whispered a 'Thank you' to Wade then leapt onto the king sized bed and went to sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

As Shego was sailing towards Italy, Marx and Tori were on a corporate jet going over the events that had unfolded within the last few hours. Shego had managed to escape from the helicopter and their attempts to kill her. It had dented both their egos somewhat but Marx had not always had everything go his way so he was somewhat more relaxed about his failure.

'I made the mistake of under-estimating Shego,' Marx mused. 'She'll be in contact with Kim because the annoying red-haired brat is the only person she can turn to now that she's blown it with the villains who would've helped her.'

'What about Junior?'

'Even him.'

'So we're off to Monaco?'

'We're returning to the United States. You have a meeting with Drakken.'

Tori groaned, 'Why do I get Drakken?'

'Call it your punishment for letting Shego escape.'

The Asian woman shuddered as she reflected on what happened at the cafe.

_The town wasn't particularly big but it was enough to swallow up the green skinned woman. Tori was annoyed because she had been the one who had accidently released her in the first place. Then they got a tip off from a cafe owner that someone matching Shego's description had come into his cafe. Marx took the alleyway, she decided to go through the front door. _

_She saw Shego through the window. _

_Pulling the gun out of her blouse pocket she fired once – and missed! _

_Shego bolted for the back of the cafe. Tori stepped through the shattered window and picked up the phone handset. She swore as she saw just how close she had come to killing the green woman. A bullet had shattered the mouthpiece. At the last second Shego had switched the phone from her right ear to her left and adjusted her pose. That saved her life. _

_Although she could've chased Shego though the cafe she didn't bother because Marx and a couple of his security guards had gone into the nearby alleyway in case she made a dash for the alleyway. She walked into the kitchen but the open back door made it clear she had not bothered to stick around. Marx walked in, yelling, 'That bitch got away! I was that close!'_

_Tori replied grimly, 'I missed by a very narrow margin. I am most disappointed in myself. She was on the phone so it's possible she was in contact with Kim Possible.'_

_'She won't be heading for Monaco any time soon. She'll probably skip the country and hide out somewhere where she thinks we can't grab her until she thinks it's safe to meet up with Kim.'_

_'What do we do in the meantime?'_

_Outside the sound of police sirens could be heard. He took Tori by the hand and rushed out the door. Rather than run down the alleyway they darted across it into the back of a cobbler's shop. He startled the old man in the shop. _

_'Excuse me, sir, but would you be able to make myself and my partner a new pair of shoes?'_

_The Greek cobbler's jaw dropped. 'You break into my shop and ask me to make you some shoes?'_

_'We're willing to pay you €300 cash for each pair if you can start now.'_

_The Greek man watched as Marx took out the money and placed it on the table. The man snatched it and put it in his till. Then he said, 'Please, take a seat so I can take your measurements.'_

_By the time the cobbler had finished the shoes the police had strung up plastic cordon tape all over the place. Police officers milled around, doing their scene examination. They were so busy doing their own thing that they didn't notice the ashen coloured man and the Asian woman walk out of the cobbler's shop. _

_They drove back to the airport in amicable silence._

Now they were on the way back to the United States with Tori dreading that moment when she would be face to face with Drakken. Feeling somewhat downcast she got up from the seat and grumbled, 'I'm going to bed. I want to be on top of my game when I deal with Drakken.'

To her annoyance, Marx didn't acknowledge her statement. That usually meant he was suddenly fixated on something or he was angry with her. The moment she lay down on the bunk bed at the back of the aircraft she went to sleep.

In the cabin Marx was on the phone, speaking with a certain Hispanic teenager in Middleton. He had a new plan and that teenager was going to be a major part of it.

Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed the story so far. Whether good or bad I do read the reviews. Whether I act on them... that's another matter. To those who are following or reading the story I hope you have enjoyed the story up to now.


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

As Shego headed for Italy by ferry and Marx headed to the United States by executive jet, Kim and Monique was flying over the Aegean Sea, preparing to jump from a French military transport aircraft.

'Thanks for flying us to Greece, Major Cousteau!' Kim yelled above the noise of the rushing wind.

'No, madam, it's the least I can do after you helped us with the flat tyre that left us stranded at Nice,' the Major answered.

'It's no big. Anyone with a blow dryer and a tube of superglue could've done it.'

'We're reaching the island now.'

'Thanks,' Kim said as she pushed Monique out the door and jumped after her.

Unlike Ron, Monique enjoyed jumping out of aircraft. She had taken up skydiving as a way of reconnecting with her father when she was still at high school. She was still a little weary of the new parachute that Wade had designed that gave them the ability to control the rate of descent and to fly for precision landings but it did enable them to land on the flat roof of the villa. With the pull and twist of a handle the parachute retracted into their bag.

Even on the roof it was obvious there had been a violent struggle as much of the roof was cracked and buckled. There was a hole which Kim and Monique were able to jump down through. Inside, it was obvious there had been a violent confrontation, judging by the damage. Splintered timber, smashed up furnishings and overturned appliances were strewn everywhere and a sizeable amount of blood was splattered everywhere,especially on and around the kitchen table.

'Avoid stepping in the blood,' the red haired girl cautioned. 'It's a bitch getting it off the shoes.'

'Jeez, thanks for telling me that, girlfriend,' Monique groaned, having just put her foot into a particularly large pool of blood. 'It wasn't like this when we were fighting that mad Scottish golfer.'

'Eyes and ears, Monique,' Kim said. It was her way of telling her friend to shut up without being rude.

Monique did as she was told. She walked through one of the doors and whistled as she found herself in a spacious sauna. Then she poked her head in the bathroom with a walk-in shower and spa bath. Both rooms had black and green towels on their racks. The soap dish had green soap and a shampoo bottle with a black and green logo.

'She's so got a fixation with black and green,' Monique remarked as she joined Kim in Shego's bedroom.

The most remarkable aspect of Shego's bedroom was that there was nothing out of the ordinary about it. Monique, with her fashion obsession, rifled through the drawers and was surprised to find Shego wasn't into anything even remotely kinky. Not a leopard skin pair of pants or studded leather collar to be seen. Her underwear was Club Banana but not a g-string to be had. And everything was either black, green or both in varying shades.

A loud crash from the wardrobe startled both girls.

A box rolled out as a cat scurried across the room.

Curious, Kim walked over to the box and used her foot to open the lid. Packed inside was a Fearless Ferret costume.

Monique screamed excitedly, 'OMG! It… It… It's a Fearless Ferret costume! I never thought I would see one of those!'

Kim frowned. 'They sell them at just about every costume shop.'

But Monique knelt down and took it out of the box carefully. She held it up for a decidedly unimpressed Kim to get a better look.

'Shego must've been loaded if she could afford to buy this!'

'Why?'

'It's worth millions! It was worn by the original Fearless Ferret!'

Monique laid it out on the bed. She took out an iPhone and took pictures of it.

'It's a little small for Timothy North, isn't it?'

'I mean the real original Fearless Ferret,' Monique explained.

Kim scoffed, 'There was no super hero named Fearless Ferret in real life.'

'Actually, there was but he was nothing like that lame guy on that 1960s TV show. He was around during the Prohibition Era when a lot of police were corrupt and couldn't be relied on. Back then the super heroes were mostly costumed vigilanties who were as brutal as the gangsters. On Thanksgiving Day back in 1929 the federal authorities decided to use the local parade as a cover for an ambush but it went badly wrong and lots of people got killed, including the Fearless Ferret. He's the reason why the government passed the Super Heroes Act.'

The Super Heroes Act was the reason why super heroes were banned from fighting ordinary criminals unless it was in self defence, they had to be morally and ethically above reproach and could not be employed by law enforcement agencies. It was why, even if Shego wanted to return to super hero work, she would never be allowed to. At least that is what Betty Director had told Kim in a very curt manner when she had asked about Kim joining Global Justice.

'I don't think we're going to find anything out of the ordinary here,' Kim stated as she ushered Monique out the door. As they left the villa she pondered aloud, 'I didn't think Shego would be into cosplay.'

Monique guffawed, 'She doesn't wear it. She's bought it as a lifetime investment.'

'That's totally weird.'

Monique raised an eyebrow. 'This is coming from someone who collects Cuddle Buddies?'

'Touche.'

Once they had boarded the amphibious plane that Wade had arranged for them she asked him to find out some information about a genuine Fearless Ferret costume. They were somewhere over the Adriatic Sea when Wade finally got back to her.

Wade explained, 'There are only two Fearless Ferret costumes in existance that was worn by the actual Fearless Ferret. The first is the blood splattered and bullet riddled one in the Smithsonian Institute. The second is owned by the Adams family in Go City.'

'At Shego's house I swear I saw an original Fearless Ferret costume. I guess it must've been a fake,' she said, almost disappointed.

'It's an original. Shego's parents never married. Her surname is that of her mother but her father's surname is Adams. As in the Adams Costumes Company. They specialise in super hero and movie costumes.'

Kim said, 'Shego told me her father was military.'

'The Adams family business passed from father to eldest son,' Wade explained. 'Shego's father was the second eldest son in the family. He didn't want to be in the family business so he joined the Marines in 1970 and served in Vietnam between 1971 and 1973. He ended up in Okinawa in 1977 and met Miss Go a year later. In 1993 he was kicked out of the military and he moved to Go City where he got a job on the company board. He was the one who designed Team Go's unforms and the family business which bankrolled Team Go until Hego became a manager of the Go City Bueno Nacho franchise. Her parents were killed in the 9/11 attacks.'

'Tough break,' Kim said.

'I've also heard back from Shego. She's on the way to Italy. We'll be putting her up at a safe house until we can sort something out with the authorities.'

'Thanks, Wade,' Kim said then cut the connection. She leaned back in the seat, only to raise an eyebrow when she saw Monique take a large book out of her bag. On the cover was the title _Adam's Costumes Guide_. For a moment she wondered if her Afro-American friend had a kinky furry fetish.

'It's a project I've been assigned,' Monique remarked dryly when she saw the expression on Kim's face. 'I've been assigned a cosplay fetish clothing item to study and design.'

'Okay,' Kim answered as she took out her own homework.

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Nothing,' Kim muttered.

'No,' Monique sneered. 'You meant something by that.'

'And I'm telling you I meant nothing by it!'

'Don't give me that, girlfriend! You're implying I'm into cosplay.'

'Bloody hell, Mon.' Kim threw her hands in the air in exasperation. 'I'm so not implying anything of the sort. What's up with you lately?'

Monique had turned purple with rage. She exploded in a volley of words rattled off with a machine gun. 'I'll tell you what's wrong! I'm in a class full of rich white kids who won't even give me the time of day because they think I'd steal their watches from their wrists and I'm tired of being talked down to by tutors who think that I'm stupid.'

Kim could only sit there, dumbfounded, as her BFF burst into tears. She undid her seat belt and moved over to the seat next to her friend. Monique buried her head in her friend's lap and sobbed quietly.

'I'm sorry, girlfriend.' Kim whispered as she ran her fingers through her friend's long, silky black hair. 'I didn't realise things were so tough.'

'I'm homesick. I just want to go home and see my family. Can't Wade set something up? I would really appreciate it if you could pull off a few favours.'

Kim smiled. 'I'm sure he'll pull a few strings for you but I'm pretty sure he'll want a date in return.'

Monique laughed. 'That'll never happen. He's not my type.'

'So what is your type?'

'You.'

Kim was thunderstruck by her best friend's comment. She shook her head sadly as she whispered, 'So not going to happen, Monique, so not going to happen.'


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

Drakken was working hard on the bench press as the morning news played. A news item was broadcast about a shooting in a small town in Greece and the Greek police being interested in the whereabouts of certain individuals including an Asian woman and a pale green woman who matched Shego's description.

'Stupid bitch,' he grumbled. 'She was always too violent for her own good.'

There was a loud knock at the door.

'LUCRE!' Drakken bellowed.

Frugal Lucre opened the front door to find himself confronted by an Asian woman who was about the same height as Junior's ex-girlfriend but who wasn't as well endowed in the breast department. She was dressed in black stockings, a black skirt and a black and white checkered top He reminded her of that Asian actress in those movies based on a 1970s television show but the woman standing in front of him looked even more peeved.

'I'm here to talk with Drakken.' It was not a request.

'Not without an appointment. He is so busy right now that he couldn't possibly see you any -.'

That was as far as he got. With a left upper cut she floored the man.

'I am so not in the mood for annoying little men telling me who I can or can't see,' she stated as she stepped over the prostrate man.

'Hey,' the irritating man growled as he spat out blood. 'Where do you get off punching me?'

'Shut up or I'll kick you down there. Hard.'

Lucre gulped. His hands instinctively covered his crotch.

'And don't even think about perving up my skirt.'

'Wouldn't even think of it.' He gasped.

'Good.'

She paid no attention to anything about the interior of this place except that she thought it was "nouvelle riche tacky" as she made her way to the gym, from where she could hear heavy exertion. She assumed this was where Drakken was. She stepped into the gym where she saw the blue man himself pressing weights while vines that seemed to originate from his body were lifting hand weights. The fact the man was naked except for a pair of blue boxers made the sight both intriguing and repulsive to her in equal measure.

Tori walked up to the man, who put down the weights and growled, 'Who are _you_?'

'Chen Guiyang,' she answered. 'You will call me Tori.'

'Oh, great. Look at who Commodore Puddles dug up.'

'I'm here because my boss sent me here to offer you an alliance.'

'Your boss doesn't have much respect for me if he sends me his secretary.'

'I am not Kevin Marx's secretary. I'm his Chief Operations Manager.'

'A fancy word for "flunky",' Drakken remarked contemptuously.

Tori rolled her eyes like she always did when she was getting really annoyed with someone. 'I'm not here to discuss my job title. I'm here to offer you an alliance to take down teen super hero Kim Possible.'

'I don't want an alliance with your boss. I want you out of my house.'

'And if I don't leave?'

'I'll throw you out.'

Tori grinned. 'Make my day.'

'Oh, please, surely you could come up with a better movie cliché than that!'

'You know how they say that today is the first day of the rest of your life? Well, that's true of every day, except one. The day you die.'

'I really hate _American Beauty_,' Drakken sneered as he leapt off the bench and lashed out at the woman with his vines but the moment they got close to her they recoiled and retracted, forcing him to fight her with his greatly improved fighting skills. However she was easily able to duck his punches with lightening reflexes. He aimed a few kicks at her but nothing connected as she stepped aside or ducked at the last second. Exhausted, he growled, 'This pale imitation of _Dancing With the Stars_ is boring me.'

'Likewise,' she said as she punched the man in the stomach, winding him.

'That's not a martial arts move,' he stammered.

'What is it with Westerners who think that just because I'm Asian I must be an expert in martial arts?'

'Call it racial stereotyping.' This time his fist slammed into her face. Most people would've been knocked out but Tori only staggered back. Blood began to pour from her nose. She wiped the blood away with the back of her hand then kneed him between the legs but was surprised when he barely winced.

'Balls of steel?'

'No. Leather jockstrap. Living with Shego taught me to take no chances.'

'Doesn't matter. I'm taking you down.' Tori said as she lashed out with her foot and swept the man off his feet. She followed it with a kick to the face. She pinned him down by straddling him. 'Last chance. You help us take down Kim and we'll give you Shego.'

'Alright! Alright! I'll join you! But how do I know you'll deliver on your end of the bargain?'

'You don't but my boss doesn't do bullshit.'

'And how do you know I won't double cross you? I am evil, after all.'

'One word: Yaese.'

Drakken fell silent. Yaese was the reason why he had suddenly dropped out of the Middleton Institute of Science and Technology. If Kevin Marx knew about it then either he had been there or he knew people in _very _high places in the Pentagon. Sighing, he mumbled, 'Very well. Let's talk.'

Tori explained, 'My boss wants to eradicate Kim but he can't do it unless you provide us with information on how to take her down. It's almost certain that Shego's joined forces with her. That'll make them almost invincible, especially as it would appear Kim's new sidekick isn't a total munt.'

Drakken beamed an evil grin. 'That means you'll be wanting someone who is all that, right?'

'You know someone?'

'Señor Senior Junior's former girlfriend Bonnie Rockwaller pulled off some serious moves at his father's funeral. Professor Dementor is the only one who fought Bonnie and he said she was as good as Kim but she lacked the discipline one would expect with a super hero or martial artist.'

Tori nodded in agreement. 'That's what Marx said.'

She got back on her feet and left the house. Drakken didn't try to stop her. The Asian woman didn't know martial arts but she did know how to street fight and, worse, she wasn't bound by any villain's code. In short, if she wanted to she could put him in hospital or the grave. The only reason why he didn't take her down with the vines was the Asian woman was wearing an alcohol based perfume. Like Shego, whose DNA he had secretly used to make the chemical that mutated into the vines, they burned when alcohol came into contact with them.


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Bonnie Rockwaller was on her lunch break at Smarty Mart when her iPhone beeped. When she checked the number she didn't recognise it but it was a local one. She answered.

'Hello?'

A vaguely familiar voice asked, 'Bonnie Rockwaller, I presume?'

'Yes.'

'It's Kevin Marx. I threw you in the fountain at Senior's funeral.'

Bonnie laughed when she remembered that! Splashing around in the fountain with Marx and the local children was the best time she had for a while. In Mexico she didn't have to worry about her image or what others thought about her behaviour. By the time she had landed in Middleton she was relaxed, her clothes had been dry cleaned and Marx had made sure she was refunded her return fare so she hadn't been left out of pocket. Despite their conversation at the funeral she hadn't expected to hear back from him.

'Hey, Kevin -!'

'Call me Marx.'

'I didn't think I would hear from you again,' she admitted. 'What's up?'

'How'd you like to have dinner at the Restaurant le Meilleur de la Cuisine Française tonight?'

'I... uh... don't know... uh... what to say.'

'Just say "Yes" and bring your passport.'

'Why do I need my passport?'

'The Restaurant le Meilleur de la Cuisine Française serves alcohol and they're less likely to bother you with dumb questions if you have a passport.'

'Uh... okay.'

'A luxury car will pick you up at eight this evening.'

He hung up.

The curvaceous Hispanic brunette woo-hooed and raced out of the staff room. She across the road to the Middleton Mall to the nearest Club Banana. Behind the counter was Tara, who had become the Assistant Manager after Monique had moved to Monaco. The blonde girl hadn't seen her best friend so excited for a long time.

Tara asked excitedly, 'What's going on?'

Bonnie exclaimed, 'That man I met in Mexico is taking me out to dinner tonight.'

Tara cried out excitedly, 'That's so cool. Can I help you?'

To make the perfect impression, which meant finding exactly what she needed, she let Tara choose her clothes for her to try them on. Within a short time her imperious attitude that she had mastered at high school had reasserted itself as she began barking orders to all and sundry as she tried on many different outfits, some of which she rejected as too frumpy and others which she dismissed as too slutty. In the end, she settled for a full length indigo dress with a hip to hemline slit on one side which enabled her to display her shapely legs. Impressed with what she saw gazing back at her in the mirror she bought the outfit.

By the end of the shopping spree Tara was glad to see the end of her.

Instead of returning to work she went straight home. For most of the afternoon she was in the bathroom washing and brushing her hair, waxing her legs and trying out assorted accessories to see what would go with her dress.

As promised she was picked up at eight in the evening by a luxury car driven by a tall, muscular man in a khaki uniform. During the drive to the restaurant she applied her lipstick and dabbed a touch of perfume on both shoulders. She was a firm believer that perfume should be applied sparingly so it didn't overwhelm the senses.

It was Marx who opened the door for her when the car pulled up outside the restaurant. He had chosen a tuxedo and looked even smarter than he had when he had met her at the funeral. He led her into the restaurant, arm in arm, where the doorman greeted them.

The doorman asked, 'Does madame have suitable identification?'

Bonnie took out her passport from her purse. The doorman inspected it then handed it back before he summoned a waiter to escort them to their table.

At the table the waiter presented them with menus and left them so they could decide what to order.

'If you have any problems reading the menus I can translate.'

Bonnie smiled. 'Merci, Monsieur Marx, mais mon français est très bon. Je pense que je vais commander le plat du jour.'

Marx said, 'Votre français est impressionnante, Miss Rockwaller. Je pensais que votre seconde langue serait; ve été espagnol.'

'Senor Senior Senior m'a appris français quand j'ai commencé Junior rencontres. Nous avons fait beaucoup de shopping à Paris et à Monaco.'

'J'ai passé la plupart de ma vie d'adulte partagé entre l'Afrique du Nord et en Asie du sud-est, mais je suis originaire de la Nouvelle-Zélande. L'agneau et le vin me rappelle de la maison, c'est pourquoi j'aime manger ici. En parlant de cela, j'ai faim et je vais commander le dîner.'

Marx gestured for the waiter to come and take their order.

'Waiter, nous aimerions commander dès maintenant. Pour hors-d'œuvre, nous aimerions commander à l'ordre tomate Bruschetta. Pour le repas principal madame Rockwaller voudraient commander la soupe du jour, alors que je vais avoir l'agneau néo-zélandais.' He then asked, 'Nous allons commander le dessert plus tard. Pour le vin J'espère que vous étiez en mesure de trouver une Nouvelle-Zélande Villa Domaine viticole?'

'Tout est comme vous avez demandé, M. Marx,' the waiter said.

Once the waiter was gone Marx said, 'Have you got a job?'

Bonnie gazed down at the table. 'I'm working at Smarty Mart in the exotic pets department. My father's business went bust thanks to the recession so I couldn't get a job after I ended it with Junior.'

'Would you like to work for me?'

Her face and eyes lit up. She gushed, 'Work for you? That'll be -.'

'A lot of hard work, pain and sweat,' he finished off her sentence. 'You'll train for six months at our training centre in Niger under our toughtest instructors. If you survive that, and I do place the emphasis on _if_, then you'll be able to get some payback for what Kim Possible did to you.'

She smiled devilishly at him. 'Payback would be nice.'

'And the pay is €1000 cash a week which in American dollars is about $1330,' he said. 'Full "no fault" medical and dental coverage and a generous redundancy package will be provided.'

'You had me at payback.'

'I feel like having a dance before I have something to eat.' Extending his hand he said, 'Come, Miss Rockwaller, let us dance the waltz.'

He got up, along with Bonnie, and the two stepped out to the floor. He placed his arm around her waist and began to dance. Like Senior he was a very good dancer but the old man had been doing it for decades with the result his dancing was a lot more refined. Once the waltz was over they returned to their table just in time for the hors-d'œuvre to be served.

Upon the completion of their meal Marx escorted Bonnie to his car and drove her home. As they drove through downtown Middleton they drove past a fountain.

'Fancy a dip in the fountain for old time's sake?' Marx chirped.

'No, thanks.'

They pulled up outside her family home. After opening the back door for her and leading her to the front door he kissed her hand. He said, 'You were the perfect dinner guest tonight.' Rather than kiss her he returned to his car and drove off, leaving a smitten Bonnie standing on her doorstep.


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

At the Fontvieville Park the cheerleaders practiced their routines. Normally they practiced at the Louis II Stadium but the captain of the local football team had tersely informed them he didn't want any distractions to his players because the match with the rival team from Nice was a very important match in which the winning team had a very good chance of progressing into the French Ligue 1 (First Division).

They had found a large area of grass where they could do their routines without landing in a bush, on a park bench or in one of the gardens. They gyrated, jumped, leaped, stretched, thrusted and tumbled to the general delight of the small crowd that gathered to watch them. As they performed Kim's voice could be heard, crying out, 'Allez, les filles! Sortons de cette routine juste. Le prince sera présent ce soir nous avons donc besoin de mettre sur la performance parfaite!'

Unexpectedly, Kim's Kimmunicator beeped. She stopped and announced to the girls, 'C'est ça, les filles! J'ai une mission pour Jeannie reprendra si je ne le fais pas pour le jeu plus tard.' Then she answered her Kimmunicator. 'What's the sitch, Wade?'

'Camille Leon tried to rob the Monte Carlo Casino.'

'I knew her family was wiped out by the 2008 Crash but I didn't think she'd be robbing casinos.'

'She tried to do it by shapeshifting into the Head of Security. It only came unstuck when the real Head of Security showed up.'

'I didn't think Camille could shapeshift into the body of a man.'

'She can't. The new Head of Security is a woman.'

'I'm on it. Where's Monique?'

'She's on her way to pick you up on her motor scooter.'

A tinny beep of a horn announced Monique's arrival. Kim jumped onto the back of the scooter and they raced off towards the Casino. In the streets of Monaco a motor scooter was far more practical on these often narrow and winding streets than a car like Kim's pink Sloth. By avoiding the traffic choke points and weaving through the traffic they were able to get to the Casino within about quarter of an hour.

The building had been evacuated and the guests were standing around outside, most of them looking rather bemused, as the Compagnie des Carabiniers du Prince assured them the Casino had been evacuated as part of a health and safety mandated evacuation drill.

A colonel walked over to the girls. He ignored Monique but addressed Kim formally, 'Good afternoon, Miss Possible.'

Kim replied, 'Bonjour, Colonel. What's the sitch?'

The Colonel looked at her oddly then replied, 'I asked for your assistance in this matter because if word gets out that the lady villain tried to rob our Casino the consequences for our nation's economy could be disasterous.'

'I understand, Colonel,' Kim replied. 'Have you any idea who it is?'

'When we encountered her she... uhhh... you might find this hard to believe... but she shape shifted from our Head of Security into a blond heiress.'

'Camille Leon,' Monique remarked dryly.

'Yes, that's what she called herself.' Turning to the crowd he remarked, 'To avoid causing any alarm we've evacuated the Casino, using the story it's an evacuation drill. I'm sure you will exercise discretion as you take care of this matter.'

Turning to Monique Kim said, 'Camille's only strength is her shape-shifting skills and very basic fighting skills. I think you can manage this one yourself.'

'Crazy white girl say what now?' Monique stammered. 'I'm not exactly dressed to fight.'

Both the Colonel and Kim glared at the black girl. From what they could see there was nothing about her attire that would impair her fighting skills. Her dress did raise a few modesty related issues but nothing that would sway Kim.

'If I can fight in a cheerleading uniform you can fight in that.'

'But -.'

'Just get in there. You'll be fine.'

Muttering a few choice swear words in French, Monique climbed off her motor scooter and walked in. It didn't take long before she was able to find Camille in one of the offices. The blond girl was dressed in her trademark blue striped top and white pants but these were not the things that she paid much attention to but the solid looking boots. Camille was bent over the desk, tapping on the computer.

Camille's lips curled into a cynical sneer as Monique walked in. 'Oh dear, Kim has sent the hired help to fight me.'

'I'm neither hired nor the help. I'm here to kick your butt -.'

'Dream on, black girl. You know the black girl always gets her butt kicked in the Hollywood movies.'

'We're not in Hollywood and I'm the one writing the script.'

'Really?' Camille stated as she stopped tapping and stood up to her adversary defiantly. 'I beg to differ.'

Camille shoulder charged the black girl and they both crashed onto the floor. For the next few minutes they rolled around on the floor clawing, punching, and scratching one another until Monique was able to break free and get back on her feet.

Getting back on her feet did not give Monique the advantage she hoped because what Camille lacked in regards to her range of fighting styles she more than made up for in her ability to deliver her few fighting moves efficiently and quickly. Thus, she was able to deliver a few hard punches to her face, causing Monique to stagger awkwardly in her wedge heeled strap-on shoes. Monique was able to land a couple of punches to the blond but most of her punches missed because Camille was very good at dodging blows.

Exhaustion began to set in. Monique was sweating profusely but also getting frustrated as most of her punches missed their target but she also found it impossible to kick with the type of shoes that she wore. Yet, when she tried to take them off she was pounded with blows from both feet and fists.

Eventually, the exhaustion created a momentary lapse in concentration which Camille exploited.

'Give my regards to Kimmie,' Camille said as she kicked Monique through a window.

'Oh shiiiiiiiiiit!' Monique screamed as she fell through the window and landed on the roof of an unmarked police car, causing the car roof to cave in.

Kim cried out fearfully, 'Monique!' She rushed over to the girl, along with the colonel. Because her face had already taken quite a battering from Camille's fists it was hard to figure out if her injuries were caused by the fall or not. The colonel, who had medical training, examined her.

'Monique!' Kim cried out.

'My back hurts,' Monique groaned.

The colonel cried out, 'Vite! Cette dame à l'hôpital immédiatement!'

A handful of medics rushed over to check Monique and placed her on a board which they inserted under her in case she had damaged her spine. Then they carefully lifted her and placed her on a gurney. They rushed her to a nearby ambulance. Kim climbed onto the motor scooter and followed the ambulance as it raced to the Princess Grace Hospital.


	15. Chapter 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The doctor walked into the waiting room where Kim was waiting, pacing the room anxiously. 'Miss Possible? Your friend has broken a couple of ribs and her wrist. She has also sustained some serious bruising and cuts. However, she should be out of here by the end of the week.'

Kim asked, 'Can I see her?'

'Unfortunately, she's under sedation while we clean up and close the cuts, which will take some time. You should go home and come back during visiting hours tomorrow.'

Kim thanked the doctor and left the hospital. Upon arriving at home she switched on the television but there was nothing of interest. She watched the soccer match being played at the stadium to watch the cheerleaders but, although they put on an impressive performance, she just wasn't in the mood to watch for more than a few minutes. She turned off the television. Grabbing a half empty bottle of wine from the coffee table she walked off to the bathroom and ran herself a hot scented bath. Once she climbed in she turned on the radio and listened to the BBC World because it was the only English-language radio station she could pick up.

Her Kimmunicator beeped.

Kim answered it but not before she disabled the video function. She did not want Wade seeing her naked in the bath.

'What's up, Wade?'

'Shego and myself are on the way to Monaco.'

'Where will she be staying?'

'Your place.'

'What? Who came up with that great idea?'

'Betty Director.'

'And when did she intend to tell me?'

'This is our way of telling you.'

Kim finally understood why Ron really hated it when his parents sprang such unpleasant surprises on him. It really did suck.

'Great! How long have I got?'

'About two hours.'

'Okay then. I will sort something out.'

'If it's any consolation it will only be a temporary arrangement until we can find somewhere more permanent for Shego to live.'

Kim disconnected the call.

She got out of the bath and got dressed in a pair of tracksuit pants and baggy top and crashed down on the sofa. After putting on some of MC Honey's more mellow songs on the home entertainment system she drifted off to sleep. She fell off the couch when there was a loud knocking on the door.

Somewhat groggily she went to answer the front door, half-expecting it to be Jehaovah's Witnesses. When she opened the door there was Shego. Standing behind him was Wade and two sour-looking plain-clothed Monegasque police officers.

One of them shoved a document in front of her. 'Nous avons besoin de vous pour signer ce document pour vérifier que Mlle Sharon Kazue Go est arrivé à votre appartement en toute sécurité.'

'Peu importe.' Kim grumbled as she signed it.

Shego barged her way into the apartment and remarked dryly, 'I see that being in Monaco hasn't changed your status as a fashion don't.'

'Shut up, Shego.'

'On the other hand your apartment looks really good.' Shego seemed to mean it.

'Well now that you're here perhaps you can at least explain who exactly Kevin Marx is and why he wants us dead?' Kim barked.

'Can we eat first?' Wade asked. 'We've been flying non-stop for three years.'

'Food is in the kitchen.'

Wade disappeared into the kitchen while Kim and Shego crashed on the sofa.

'Talk,' Kim insisted.

'Here's the short version. Kevin Marx is a former pirate who found my diary in one of Drakken's lairs. He discovered that I'd been faking my fights with you and tried to use that information to blackmail me into getting me to join him in his plan to take you down. He tried to kidnap me but I managed to escape but not before he made sure Drakken got hold of my diary.'

'So you're here to ask me for help?'

'Not quite. On our own we can't defeat Marx but we may stand a chance if I train you to be as good as I am.'

Kim laughed derisively. 'I hate to break it to you but I kinda remember kicking your butt on many occassions.'

'Actually, you may think you're all that but you're not. You only won most of the time because I let you.'

'Yeah, right,' Kim jeered.

'I had to make it look convincing or otherwise Drakken would've smelt a rat and would've fired me if I was lucky or kill me if I wasn't. Anyway, your fighting skills might be good enough to take down someone like Camille Leon or Duff Killigan but they'll be useless against someone like Marx because he's got a few very nasty tricks up his sleeve.'

'Like comet powers?' Kim stated.

'Yeah, those, but the main thing is he's had many years of fighting some of the nastiest people you'll never encounter.'

'You keep forgetting that I know sixteen types of kung fu.'

'But you haven't mastered any of them. Marx might not know kung fu but he knows how to fight street and if they awarded belts for it he'd been a tenth Dan black belt. His assistant Tori is even better than he is but she doesn't have powers. When they work together even the combined might of me and my brothers are powerless to defeat them.'

Noticing the dark expression on her face Kim realised that Shego wasn't being rhetorical but was reliving a painful memory. And the pale expression on Wade's face indicated she must've told him about the confrontation.

Kim got up from the couch and said, 'It's been a bitch of a day and I'm really tired. Wade, you're sleeping in Monique's room. Shego, you're on the fold-out sofa bed.'

Shego protested angrily, 'Hey, why does the nerdlinger get the bedroom and I get the sofa couch?'

'I trust him. You? Not so much.'

Shego muttered something in Japanese as Kim walked out. She watched the red haired girl until she closed her bedroom door behind her. Then she unfolded the sofa bed. Noticing Wade sitting at the dining table she asked, 'Aren't you going to bed?'

Wade answered, 'Yes but can I ask you a question?'

'What?'

'What do you really think about Kim?'

Shego was taken aback by the maturity of the question. 'If you're asking me if there's any chance of KiGo on the horizon you're out of luck. She's so not into the girls.'

'I didn't mean that,' Wade growled. 'I meant professionally.'

Shego paused to ponder the question for a moment. 'Truthfully, she's not totally useless. If she was she would never have been able to kick me into the radio tower but she's no match for either Marx or Tori. Unless the original buffoon returns from the grave we're as good as dead.'

Wade was silent for a very long time.

Kim, who'd been listening through a crack in the door, felt a cold shiver run down her spine. Shego wasn't one to spare anyone's feelings when she spoke so when she said they were as good as dead she meant it.


	16. Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Everyone who stepped off the ancient Russian-made military transport aircraft were almost slam-dunked by the intense heat of the Saharan Desert. They assembled in small groups as they waited for someone to come and pick them up. Despite the common misconception that deserts are vast sand dunes the ground her was harder than concrete and totally flat with rocks strewn all over the place. Bonnie had assembled with a group of former cheerleaders from the Lowerton Lemurs and the Upperton Ourangutans. They were so busy talking about their cheerleading days they didn't see the SUV that pulled up in front of them.

A tall, lean man stepped out of the vehicle. He wore the white uniform that everyone in the Organisation in a position of authority seemed to wear, the only difference being his peaked cap and collar patches.

'Greetings, everyone. I am Commandant Pierre Lyons, on loan for six months a year from the 13th (French) Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade in Djibouti, and I am the person who will be training you for the next six months. Now line up in four lines of eight. Move it!'

They lined up as instructed.

The man in the peaked cap strode down each line. From time to time he paused and scratched his chin. Once he had finished he roared, 'I was told to wait thirty two people and I get thirty two pussies! Well, this is my chance! I was given six months to transform you lot into real women. Get a good look at the person on each side of you. One of them will probably die before your training is up. Others will end up in a hospital. Regardless, I get paid. Now get moving! Right turn! Left, right, left...!'

With that, everyone walked off their rows towards the collection of buildings that would be their home for the next six months. Gazing at the buildings, Bonnie groaned. When Marx said her training in Niger would be harsh she thought he was being dramatic. Now she began to suspect he'd downplayed what was facing her.

They were led through an archway under a mud-coloured building decorated in faded French signs. She didn't have time to read them before they found themselves in a large courtyard that served as a parade ground. Lyons ordered them to halt. He commanded, 'Turn left!'

Everyone did as they were told. They found themselves facing the building. 'This is your barracks which shall be your home for the next six months. Everyone single file through this door!'

Bonnie and the other girls filed into the barracks. There was nothing to fill them with much joy. The walls were freshly painted but the light fittings and ceiling fans were ancient and there were still posters on the wall, mostly of a long-dead French general no one had every heard of. On each side of the barracks were sixteen bunk beds with six foot lockers and a small table next to them. On each bed were three sets of uniforms. At the end of each bed was the name of their intended occupant. Hers was located closest to the door.

Lyons announced, 'Welcome to your new home. Take good care of it. It's lights out at 10 pm and we get up at 6 am. At any time your person, your uniforms and your beds must be absolutely spotless or both yourself and everyone else in this barracks will be subjected to a punishment drill. In this place, both rewards and punishments are rewarded collectively.'

With that, he turned and walked out. Bonnie shoved her bag down on her bunk and sat down on her bed. It reminded her of the bunk beds at Camp Wannaweep. There were three sets of khaki shirts and knee length skirts. There were three black ties, one black leather belt and a pair of black hiking boots. Finally there were three sets of white bras, panties and socks.

Lyons walked back in. 'You are to change into your uniform. If you are too shy to change in front of others, get over it! You are in Fort Laval, not the church.'

On the flight from the United States she found most of the girls were either cheerleaders, dancers or gymnasts. That ensured they had a high tolerance for pain, were physically fit and no particular concerns about modesty. Once they were changed they had a laugh at their appearance.

One of the girls remarked sarcastically, 'Oh, look, we look like the Hitler Youth. All we need now are the swastikas.'

Bonnie laughed because she thought the uniforms looked a little over the top. But she had to admit that she looked good in it and made a point of strutting down the length of the barracks to assert her authority over the others in much the same way as she used to do at Middleton High.

'I'll be your Commandant for the next six months. What I say is the law and will be obeyed without question. There is no exception to this rule. Now, come with me!'

Everyone filed out onto the parade ground where they were lined up in the formation they had arrived in. They were taught how to stand to attention, how to stand at ease and how to salute. They were informed that all instructions would henceforth be given in French, without exception, and within a few hours they had learned what Lyons called "étiquette de terrain de parade". Then they set forth on what the girls called the Mars de Mille Ampoules (the March of a Thousand Blisters).

Under the gaze of the huge portrait of Kevin Marx at the end of the parade ground they marched in formation. First was a standard march, followed by marching at the double and finally by goose stepping. The goose step was much harder than it looked on television when the North Korean soldiers goose stepped through Pyongyang. Even though Bonnie began to see spots in her eyes, her body was drenched in sweat and her feet felt like two huge festering lumps of meat they marched

up and down the parade ground, through hallways and across the concrete-like rock of the desert. Anyone who stepped out of turn was kicked. Anyone who dared to stop was beaten with a stick. At some point someone yelled some obscenities but they were ignored.

'Pause pour le repas de la mi-journée!' The order was barked as they marched to the mess hall.

Until she set foot in the mess hall she thought the worst thing she had encountered was the Middleton High's mystery meat but the food they served here was stuff she had never encountered before but she managed to eat it. The liquid to wash it down with was called coffee but it wasn't like any coffee she had drank before. Her stomach made ominous noises so she made a mad dash for the bathroom where she was surprised to find several other girls in the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later she staggered out, exhausted, to the great amusement of Lyons whose only remark was 'Congratulations, you have Niger Belly. It'll stop once your stomach adapts to the local cuisine.'

In the afternoon they were back to the marching in the afternoon. The only difference was that everyone had to march with backpacks filled with rocks. Everyone groaned as the straps cut into their shoulders and the rocks inside their backpack jabbed them in the back but, still, the same merciless cry drilled through their skulls. 'Un! Deux!'

In the early evening they arrived in the parade ground for the evening roll call.

A cry rang out. 'Attention!'

Everyone snapped to attention, whipping off their caps as they did so.

A group of staff wearing peaked caps counted the number of people present in the parade ground. They compared the numbers then proceeded to count again before announcing there were exactly 512 people present. Then, with a final 'Licencié', everyone was dismissed.

Everyone descended on the mess hall but the recruits like her were not so enthusiastic this time round. Their mood changed when they saw it was proper food.

After the evening meal she returned to the barracks while most of the other girls decided to socialise with some of the other people they had encountered. No sooner had she taken off her boots and lay down on the bed than she fell asleep. She had survived Day One at Fort Laval.

As Bonnie drifted off to sleep Marx and Lyons stood on the tarmac of the nearby airfield. Next to Marx was Camille, dressed in a striped blue coat and white pants because the temperature had began to plummet now the sun was beginning to set.

'How did things go in Monaco?' Marx asked.

'Kim sent in the sidekick to fight me on her own so I have no clue how they would perform as a team but, on her own, Monique fought like a scrappy little street fighter. She, like, totally lacks the skills of an experienced fighter.'

'By the time you reach Benghazi you'll have access to your family fortune as agreed but Tori still wants that dress you promised.'

'Yeah, whatever.' Camille said as the helicopter with the plain green markings of the Libyan Air Force touched down on the airfield nearby. She reached over to Marx and kissed him on the lips in a long, passionate kiss as he groped her butt, which made the girl blush. After the kiss she said, 'If you ever need a favour, just ask me!'

Once she had climbed on board and flown off towards the Libyan border he asked Lyons, 'How did the Rockwaller girl do on her first day?'

'She'll either be dead by the end of the week or she'll be graduating at the top of her squad in six months time.'

'Shego arrived in Monaco last night. That is unwelcome but expected. Also, we got hold of the Japanese Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation Commission report into the plane crash in which Ron Stoppable was supposedly killed. Let's just say there's a good chance Stoppable didn't die in that crash, despite what the authorities claim.'

'Should I proceed with the Luxembourg Project?'

'Do it.'


	17. Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

**August 2009 – Six Months Later**

Glancing across the hallway she saw Shego's sofa bed was empty. 'Damn it, where's she gone?' Kim thought to herself as she slowly got out of bed and made her way towards the doorway in her classic silent creeping mode. Peering both ways down the hallway she couldn't see anything. No lights were on in the toilet, the bathroom or the kitchen. But Monique's bedroom light was on.

Judging by the furious tapping she presumed Monique was working on an assignment she had thrown herself into. Sometimes she got so caught up in things that she often lost track of time. It was now the third year of tertiary study for both girls. Despite Monique's fears, she had passed her assignments with an A- average. She wasn't at the top of her class but she was in the top five. She was determined to get an A grade average this year. That meant working extra hard well into the night.

After listening at the door for a few moments she realised Shego wasn't in there. If she had been they would've been talking. So where was the older woman?

She had just returned to her bedroom when her world went black as a hood was pulled down over her head. Handcuffs were slapped over her wrists. Then a steel capped boot was driven into her stomach. It hurt so much she couldn't even scream in pain.

A vice like arm grabbed her by the throat and frogmarched her out the door. Despite struggling to stand up and walk properly she couldn't do it. Not being able to see or hear anyone terrified her more than anything else.

At some point she became aware she was outside because she felt the cold through her t-shirt.

Then she was shoved into the back of what she assumed to be the back of a van. When the van began moving the driver was going fast enough that she couldn't sit up straight, especially as they went around some of the crazy hairpin turns. Then the van screeched to a sudden halt. She heard the door open and she was pulled out. Her bare feet touched cold concrete then gravel. It was uncomfortable walking on gravel until she heard the sound of a waterfall. The only waterfall in this place she knew of was the one at the Japanese Gardens.

She was pushed into water that was about knee deep. She waded through the water along with whomever was with her. Then a female voice she recognised initially as Shego's commanded, 'Stop.'

'What the hell is your damage, Shego?' Kim yelled.

'Shut it, Possible,' Shego replied. 'One kick and you'll be at the bottom of a water fall.'

'Wait a minute,' Kim muttered to herself. 'Shego _never _refers to me by my proper name. This bitch is an imposter. It could only be...'

The black hood was ripped off. It took a few moments for her eyes to focus but she knew that the Shego standing behind her was not the real Shego. A couple of sniffs confirmed that.

'Give it up, Camille,' Kim growled. 'I know it's you.'

'It's Shego,' Camille insisted.

'No,' Kim insisted. 'You're wearing Chanel No.5. Shego can't wear that brand.'

'Huh?'

'Shego has a skin allergy which means she can't wear alcohol-based perfumes on her bare skin.'

'Shit!' Camille swore as she shape-shifted back to her original self. 'I didn't think you knew anything about perfumes.'

Facing Camille, Kim snarled, 'What do you want with me?'

'I have the classified report into the plane crash that supposedly killed Ron Stoppable that you definitely want to read.'

'I've already seen it,' Kim scoffed.

'You got the same one the media got, not the classified version that only the top government officials saw.'

'What's the difference?'

'Does Yamanouchi mean anything to you?'

Kim lied, 'No.'

'You should because that's the place in Japan your boyfriend went to as an exchange student. It was where Monkey Fist was turned to stone. It's also where Flight 999 really crashed. If you want the classified report I want something from you.'

'Forget it, Camille. I don't do deals with villains.'

'I'm not interested in doing deals. I want a one night stand with you.'

Kim jeered, 'You kidnap me so you could hit on me? Is this your idea of foreplay or do you handcuff all your girlfriends?'

Camille laughed. 'I don't trust you enough to undo the handcuffs.'

'The least you could do is to come around and show me what you've got. But, first, show me the report.'

Carelessly, Camille walked in front of Kim and held up the flash drive so she could see it. She took hold of the red haired girl's chin and kissed her on the lips as she slipped it into her pocket. Once the long, passionate and decidedly one sided kiss was finished she said wistfully, 'Your breath is minty.'

Kim head-butted the girl and kneed her in the crotch then kicked Camille over the waterfall. Then she waded to the bank and climbed out with some difficulty as it was slippery. She walked home but stuck to the maze of steps and narrow lanes that criss-crossed the Principality.

As she walked up a narrow alleyway she heard a cry rang out, 'Hey, Princess! Is that you?'

Kim stopped and looked around to find herself facing Shego. Just to make sure it wasn't Camille playing a trick she asked a question that only someone who lived with Shego for any length of time would've known.

'If that's you then tell me when you last wore a g-string?'

Shego yelled back, 'What kind of stupid lame-ass question is that?'

It was Shego. Kim cried back, 'My hands are handcuffed behind my back. Can you cut them for me?'

'Well, well, Cupcake. If I knew you _liked _being handcuffed I would've told Drakken not to bother cuffing you to the wall,' Shego guffawed as she used her green plasma to cut through the handcuffs.

'Shut up, Shego,' Kim barked angrily. 'It's not funny. Camille handcuffed me when I was kidnapped.'

'What the heck did she want with you?'

'Some girl on girl action in exchange for some information about the plane crash that killed Ron.'

'Go, Kimmie! Did she get any?' Shego asked with a lecherous grin on her face.

'Not the sort she was expecting. There was some lip locking but as soon as she put the flash drive in my pocket I head butted her and kicked her over a waterfall.'

Shego cooed as if she was a mother praising her daughter for getting an A+ on an assignment. 'Oh, Princess, that's so _sweet_. It's such a shame I missed all the action.' As they climbed on Shego's motorcycle she asked, 'So what was it like kissing Camille?'

'Kissing Camille Leon was like kissing Hitler.'

Shego's raucous laughter rang out through the Monaco night as they rode back to the apartment.


	18. Chapter 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Tori could barely restrain herself from laughing as the blond landed in the pond with a loud splash and swore. 'She's so going to regret wearing those white pants.'

'Collect the bimbo and get the heck out of Monaco before Kim's nerd figures out you're lurking around and puts two and two together.'

'On it.'

Tori ended the call. She caught the elevator down to the ground floor and walked across the road to the Japanese Gardens, safe in the knowledge that none of the CCTV cameras in the area were working because she had jammed their signal. She found Camille shivering in the van, looking rather sheepish in her wet clothes. She was shivering because she couldn't use the heater when the van engine was switched off and she didn't have the key.

As the Asian woman got into the van Camille snarled, 'I do her a favour and that ungrateful bitch kicks me off the water fall.'

'Being kidnapped then kissed by their kidnapper tends to make a person somewhat peeved.'

'Now I'm cold and wet.'

Tori turned on the engine and switched on the heater. 'And it must've be humiliating to have been rejected so brutally by one of the hottest girls in the super hero business.'

Camille growled, 'I still don't see why Marx changed the plans after we snatched the cow.'

Tori replied, 'The DSGE knew about our plans. Marx found hidden cameras and electronic bugs in my apartment.'

Camille's face turned bright red. 'Did they... ummm... film me... uhhh...?'

'Probably.'

'I feel so violated.'

'You're worried about feeling violated because you got filmed by French intelligence and you're dressed like that?' Tori jeered. 'That outfit didn't leave much to the imagination even before it got wet.'

'It's not the same.'

'Riiiiight,' Tori replied derisively as they drove past the turn-off for Nice.

'Hey, wasn't that the turn-off for Nice?'

'Unless you fancy being held incommunicado in a dark cellar by some nasty thugs in suits we're going to Italy but, if you want to take your chances here, I'm happy to drop you off.'

Camille scoffed, 'I'm a villain. Being on the run kinda comes with the territory.'

'Maybe for you but I rather l prefer living a life without having to look over my shoulders all the time.'

'That comes with the job.'

'At the end of the day I'm an employee taking orders for a boss. If the shit hit the fan I walk away. In your case... who knows what Marx put in your contract.'

'Wow... Marx is right. You really are a cut-throat bitch.'

'I've been called a lot worse.'

'Yeah, whatever.'

'I've got a change of clothes in my backpack.'

Camille climbed into the back of the van in search of the backpack. When she found them she cried out excitedly, 'Yes!'

Near the Italian border Tori pulled off the main road and into a rest area. She called out to Camille, 'I'll be back in a few minutes to let you change in private.'

'Yeah, okay. Thanks.'

Tori got out of the van. There was a faint click as she adjusted a handle that moved the seat just a fraction. Then she slammed shut the driver's door and walked off to a nearby toilet block. Standing outside was a sleazy looking guy nursing a cheap bottle of wine. She approached him, asking, 'Avez-vous une cigarette?'

'Oui, bien sûr. Vous avez le temps pour une fellation?' He replied crudely.

'Vous plaisantez, non?'

'Hé, c'est une fin de nuit et je veux tirer un coup avec une chaude asiat!'

Although the man was pushy she didn't think he would try anything. He was slurring his speech, a good sign that he was too drunk to have forced her to do much. In fact, she doubted he could've performed even if she did want it.

She walked into the Ladies toilet. Once she had closed the door she took out her mobile phone from her pocket.

On the tiny screen it counted down 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 then beeped. Tori didn't hear the beep because her hearing had been deadened by the force of the explosion that tore apart the van.

Shortly after dawn Marx woke up to the sound of his radio-clock alarm beeping. He banged on the button to turn it off.

Although he hadn't opened his eyes he was aware that someone else was in the room.

'Tori?'

She mumbled something incoherent.

Opening his eyes he saw Tori sleeping in the spare bed. He hadn't heard her arrive so he assumed she must've arrived some time after he'd gone to bed. Her clothes were piled in a heap beside her bed.

He fumbled around one of the drawers for headphones then plugged them into the radio before switching it on.

An announcer speaking what he called BBC English was announcing the death of Camille Leon.

'...French authorities have confirmed that the body of a young woman killed by a roadside bomb was the villain heiress Camille Leon. Miss Leon, aged 21, inherited an estimated $13 billion from the Leon fortune after a bitter dispute with other family members. A villain with the ability to alter her appearance with shape-shifting super-powers she was linked with several high profile robberies in the United States, France and Belgium...'

He switched off the radio.

'Excellent,' he remarked evilly as he got out of bed. Although Plan B had been hastily put together at the last minute it had gone exactly.

It had been a fluke that he had discovered the hidden camera. In the course of trying to replace the battery in a smoke alarm he discovered something quite different. When he found it he was surprised to find it was a Hench Co. device. Hench Co. only sold devices to villains and each device had a unique code which made it easy to find out who bought it and when. It revealed Camille had bought it. In itself, it meant little as he expected her to have a hidden camera in the apartment as protection but he discovered that a tiny transmitter had been placed inside the device that had been pre-set to the frequency used the DGSE in that part of France.

His anger knew no bounds when he realised that all their scheming done in Tori's apartment had been transmitted to the DGSE, including his plan to kidnap Kim and take her to North Africa.

When he told Tori she agreed that something had to be done so they devised Plan B. Tori had only told Camille the first part of the new plan, which was to kidnap Kim and get the flash drive containing the classified report into the plane crash which Ron Stoppable was on. The other was to eliminate a certain loose end.

Now that the loose end was gone he was now curious to see how Kim Possible would react to the air crash report.


	19. Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Monique switched on the television. The television was tuned into BBC World because it was one of the few English language channels they could pick up which they could all agree on watching most of the time. Most of the items were about the Euro Crisis and the latest social unrest gripping Greece as debates raged about bailouts. Birthers were claiming the recently elected President was actually Kenyan and, therefore, had no right to be the President of the United States.

The news item on television was one of those annoying "good news" stories which was about an organisation that was booming in this time of economic doom and gloom. The reporter was standing on the parade ground of a place called Fort Laval, which she had never heard of, in a country in north Africa called Niger, which she had heard of. He was conducting interviews with people dressed in khaki uniforms that reminded her of the Hitler Youth. The item concluded with the khaki-wearing staff goose-stepping past a reviewing stand in perfect formation which made the Afro-American girl choke on her breakfast cereal.

'What the hell...?' Monique exclaimed as she had a coughing fit. She leaned closer to get a better look. 'It can't be!'

Kim walked into the living room, still drying her red hair. 'Can't be what?'

'Tell me that girl in the first row second from left isn't Bonnie.'

The red-haired girl leaned in closer to the television to take a closer look and had to blink to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Unless Bonnie had an identical twin or a doppelganger living in Africa the girl Monique was indicating was definitely Bonnie. They watched, transfixed, as she goose-stepped in perfect rhythm with the other eight girls in her row in front of the camera.

Kim muttered, 'Well, I never expected to see that.'

Shego walked in, wearing a black and green chequered flannel shirt and dark green denim jeans. Pausing by the television she swore when she saw the black and khaki flag of the Organisation of Recyclers and Retrievers and changed the channel.

'Hey, we were watching that!' Monique protested.

'I'm not in the mood to watch goose-stepping thugs on TV.'

'I hardly think a bunch of construction workers and garbage men are Nazi thugs,' Kim grumbled.

'The garbage men are only a front,' Shego stated. 'It enables those pricks that have a conscience to pretend they work for a legitimate business rather than drug dealers, gun runners and money launderers.'

'Bonnie wouldn't win any awards for being a decent human being but I can't imagine her getting caught up with criminals.'

'After Senior's funeral she was getting very chatty with Marx.'

'Still…,' Kim trailed off.

'If she's at Fort Laval it means he's recruited her into his elite,' Shego said. 'It also means she's far more dangerous than when she was an annoying teenage cheerleader at high school.'

'Exaggerate much?' Kim protested. 'Granted, Bonnie's a bitch but I hardly think she's a threat to us. She's college evil, not real world evil.'

Shego dismissively shook her head. 'Have you learnt nothing over the last six months? We're not dealing with a villain! We're dealing with a psycho who'll use any weapon to get the job done. Bonnie is now part of that arsenal. Even if all she does is tell him all she knows about you he will use it against you.'

'I hardly think so.'

'It's what he did to defeat us the first time around.'

'Wait.' Kim said. 'Are you telling me he fought Team Go when you were still one of them?'

'Yes.'

'Still, I doubt he's so good he could use any gossip from our time at high school and use it to take us down.'

'Oh, really? What does Bonnie really know about you? Did you two ever sleep together? Did you get up to any girl-on-girl hijinks when you cheerleaders were at regional finals? What does she know about your family and friends?' Shego ranted angrily. 'Everything she knows about you will be used against you. He will learn what buttons to push and use them. He already knows about how important Ron is to you and that you secretly hope he's still alive. If he thinks it will help him to destroy you then he will use it.'

'He won't touch my family and friends.'

'If he thinks they'll serve his interests all bets are off.'

Kim fell silent as the full implications of what the older woman was saying sank in. As much as she hated to admit it, the truth in what Shego was saying was clear. Bonnie knew all the right buttons to push. She knew all the things to say that would be music to Marx's ears, especially confidential things she had told her when they were bonded together by Professor Dementor's adhesive and there was much Bonnie knew about her from their time at high school that would be what Shego called "blackmail gold".

On the other hand, Monique had never got on with Bonnie so there was little bad blood between them beyond a mutual loathing. She had no reason to be concerned about Marx beyond the fact he was trying to kill her best female friend. Smugly she muttered, 'Thank God I didn't have anything to do with Bonnie. We barely spoke.'

Shego smiled the way she always did when she had a sarcastic or snide comment to make. She said, 'You better pray he doesn't find out how much you have the hots for fire crotch here or your demise will be far worse than the hiding Camille gave you.'

'How'd you find out?' Monique blushed as she glared at Kim, assuming she'd said something.

Kim pleaded, 'Hey, I never said a word.'

'I only told - .'

Shego cut her off. 'Princess is way too much of a prude to say anything but it doesn't take a PhD to work out what's up when your screensaver features some very raunchy images of her.'

Monique growled, 'You've been using my computer?'

'And both of you aren't exactly discreet in your masturbating.'

It was now Kim's turn to blush.

Shego said, 'Now that we know Bonnie's working with Marx you'd better fill me in on everything you know about her.'

The two girls did just that, unaware that much of what they said about Bonnie owed more to the carefully cultivated image that she'd created for herself than the truth because, like Marx, she knew the art of telling people what they wanted to hear if it would serve her interests.


	20. Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

The discussion about Bonnie had brought back some very painful memories for Kim that she thought she had suppressed so she got up from the couch and said to the others, 'I need to crash.'

In her bedroom she closed her eyes as her mind was flooded with the memory of Ron Stoppable's face that she had fallen in love with: the freckles under his brown eyes, his blond hair and the goofy grin. Then the memory of _that_ day back in August 2007 struck her like a hammer blow.  
_  
__They were standing at the top of a cliff that overlooked the tiny harbour below. The stone wall that separated them from an almost certainly fatal fall made them both feel as if they could've been samurai warriors gazing down upon the sea, watching out for barbarians and pirates heading for the shore.___

_Yet, Kim felt uneasy as there was a big announcement she had to make. Ron could sense it and from the way she had been avoiding eye contact as they walked up to this scenic lookout she sensed that Ron was more than a little concerned.___

_'__What's up, KP?'___

_'__I've been asked by Monique to move in with her,' Kim told him. 'I've been accepted by the university and they said I can start straight away.'___

_'__You're going to move to Monaco, aren't you?' Ron whined.___

_'__Yes, Ron,' she answered almost apologetically. 'It's too good to pass up.'___

_'__So we're through, then.'___

_'__No,' she stated. 'What makes you say that?'___

_'__I can't move to Monaco,' she answered. 'I couldn't get into any college in the United States, even with my mad football skills, and I haven't had much luck outside the United States either.'___

_'__We don't have to be together all the time.'___

_'__How do we make Team Possible work?'___

_'__The villains have been lying low since the Lorwardian attack so things have been quiet for a while. I'm sure that if anything happens Wade will get us there on time.'___

_'__But, KP, I want to be with you.'___

_'__So do I but this means a lot to me.'___

_'__Yeah, yeah, always putting yourself ahead of me, just like you always do,' he snipped.___

_'__What the hell is that supposed to mean?'___

_'__You know! It's always about you. I'm just the dumb sidekick who tags along. Hell, none of the villains can even remember my name I'm such a loser.'___

_'__If I thought you were a loser I would not be going out with you.'___

_'__You're only my girlfriend because you feel sorry for me... and because I'm the only one who puts up with your crap.'___

_'What__ did you say?' Kim was turning purple with hurt and rage at what he had just blurted out.___

_'__You heard!'___

_Kim punched him in the face.___

_Taken by surprise by her sudden outburst he stumbled back. After checking to see if he was bleeding he hissed, 'Kimberly Ann Possible, we're through. I never want to see you again.'___

_Ron walked off, leaving Kim standing there. She was stung by what he had said but she was just as shocked by her response. She shouted, 'Ron! Please don't go! I'm sorry!'___

_He shouted back furiously, 'We're through! I'm going home.'___

_She chased him and grabbed his jersey. 'No! We have to talk, Ron!'___

_He pushed her away. 'No, we don't. I've always been willing to make sacrifices for you but what have you sacrificed for me? You've always put your happiness, your interests ahead of mine. I'm just the booby prize you got stuck with.'___

_'__That's not true,' she said. 'We make a great team.'___

_Ron jeered, 'No. It's all about you. I'm just the dumb sidekick who loses his pants and holds you back. I've seen the way you and Monique snigger behind my back. Don't think I haven't noticed that!'___

_'__We weren't laughing at you but with you.' Even she knew the words weren't true as they left her lips.___

_'__Yeah, right,' he snapped. 'Even now you can't be honest with me.'___

_'__Fine,' Kim blurted out. 'If you're going to behave like a spoilt brat then maybe it's just as well we're through! You… you… [CENSORED]. Just do the world a favour and die!'___

_It was the last thing she said to him as she returned to the hotel room where her mother was cooking dinner for the family and Monique, who'd come along for the holiday.___

_Dr Possible asked, 'Where's Ron?'___

_'__We had a fight and… we broke… up.' Kim burst into tears.___

_Her mother walked over to her and comforted her, assuring her with the words, 'I'm sure he'll regret what he said and come back, Kimmie. You've had fights before.'___

_'__Yeah, but nothing like this. We said… stuff. Hurtful stuff we shouldn't have said to each other.'_

_'I'm sure he'll be back later when he cools down.'_

The only problem was that Ron didn't come back. As they were sitting down to dinner there was a firm knocking at the door. Monique got up and answered it. There were two police officers standing there.

'Wareware wa uji Ronarudo teishi kanō no ryōshin ni hanashite moraemasu ka? '

Monique stared at the two police officers blankly, 'Japanese police officers say what now? Can you speak English?'

_'We would like to speak to the parents of Ron Stoppable.'_

_'They're in the United States but his girlfriend's parents are here.'_

Monique let them come in. The two police officers introduced themselves and asked them to take a seat. Once they had introduced themselves to the Possibles they got straight to the point.

'I regret to inform you that Mr Possible was listed as a passenger on a flight from Sendai Airport to Honolulu has gone missing en route,' the taller of the police officers stated. 'Though we are doing everything we can to locate the aircraft we do not anticipate good news.'

___Kim's world fell apart at that moment._

As she lay there in her bed her thoughts were interrupted by the familiar beeping of her Kimmunicator.

'What's the sitch?'

Wade answered, 'I analysed the flash drive Camille gave you. She's right. The official report we were given was rubbish. The Japanese air crash investigators were informed that thirteen survivors were found but they were taken away by unidentified persons before they could be named. The Japanese authorities listed them as missing, presumed dead. But that's -.'

'So Ron could be alive?'

'It's a remote possibility but that's not the reason why I called you.'

'What's up, then?'

'Camille was killed by a van bomb last night in Menton. Here's the creepy thing: it was registered in the name of the Organisation.'

Kim suddenly felt the urge to be sick. 'I was taken down to the Gardens by van. If I had been taken out of Monaco I could've been killed.'

'I'm afraid so. And a drunk who was loitering around the toilets at the time reckoned there was an Asian woman who got out of the van just before it blew up.'

'Tori.'

'The authorities said he was too drunk to remember much about her but he said she was Chinese.'

'But…?'

'She was long -.' He suddenly stopped. 'Hold on a minute. This can't be right.'

'What?'

Wade's expression turned from concern to bewilderment. 'Ron's tracking microchip came on and, get this, it's in Ina!'

'If he's dead how is that possible?'

'I don't know,' he admitted. 'But if it's working again it means he's alive.'

'Where is he?'

'In a town called Ina, in Japan.'

'Never heard of it.'

'It's near the place where Ron's plane crashed and it's the closet large town to Mt Yamanouchi.'

Kim sat up and said, 'Get me a ride to Japan. Please and thank you.'

'It could also be a trap.'

'I'm willing to take the risk.'

'I'm not,' Wade stated. 'I think you should send someone Marx and Tori don't know. I know it's a big ask but the best person to send under the circumstances is,' he hesitated for a few moments before saying, 'Monique.'

'You think she's up to it?' She wasn't keen on the idea at all but Wade cared too much for the girl to willingly let her go anywhere unless he was fairly certain she wouldn't end up dead.

'I can't answer that. Only you, Monique and Shego can make that call.'

Kim ended the call. She walked into the living room. Both Monique and Shego were watching television as a breaking news item announced the killing of the shape-shifting villain heiress.

'Camille's dead,' Monique said.

'Wade told me,' Kim replied. 'He also said that he's discovered possible evidence that Ron's alive.'

Both Monique and Shego exclaimed, '_What?_'

Kim explained to the two females what Wade had told her. When she had finished Shego merely said, 'It's a trap.'


	21. Chapter 21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Marx had left the hotel suite when Tori woke up. She staggered out of bed and spent the next twenty minutes vomiting into the toilet. Then she had a long shower. Unlike Marx, she had no stomach for taking human life but Marx viewed the fact she threw up every time she killed someone as a positive attribute as it showed she had a conscience. It still didn't make her feel better.

After the shower she got dressed and made herself some lunch. She had only taken a couple of bites when there was a knock on the door.

She opened the door and two gendarmes said something to her in Italian, a language she didn't understand.

'English? Français? Deutsch?'

The older gendarme said, 'I speak English, ma'am. We would like you to accompany us to the police station to answer some questions in relation to a bombing that took place in the early hours of this morning.'

'Am I under arrest?'

'No, ma'am.'

She said, 'Then I'll get my wallet and shoes.'

'Very well, ma'am,' he said.

Both gendarmes watched as she put on her shoes and shoved her wallet into her pocket. Then she accompanied them to the police station. They processed her then put her into one of the cells where they kept her waiting for an hour.

Finally, two gendarmes walked in. One was French, the other was Italian. The Italian gendarme apologized. 'Please accept our apologies for the delay, ma'am.'

She didn't reply.

The interview lasted for two hours but, no matter how they reworded the questions, her answers remained consistant with what both the coroner and the emergency services had initially concluded in their inquiries so they let her go.

No sooner had she returned to the hotel room than the phone rang.

'We have a problem,' Marx stated over the phone.

'You're telling me. I've just spent the last few hours being interrogated by the French and Italian gendarmes,' Tori said with a loud yawn.

'Our annual report came back from our headquarters in Japan.'

'So? What's that got to do with anything?' It was a sign of how tired she was when she began to snap at her boss.

'Everything,' Tori answered tersely

'What's up then?'

'Our Japanese division had a photo on their front page that had been taken in Ina. It showed a certain Ronald Stoppable walking past the truck with a Japanese girl whom we know nothing about.'

Tori exclaimed, 'Are you absolutely sure?'

'It was definitely him,' he stated. 'Bonnie Rockwaller confirmed it just now.'

'What the hell is he doing in Ina?'

'How am I supposed to know? All I know is our people in Ina said he'd been seen around town on and off over the last several months. No one knew who he was so it was never reported to us.'

Tori said, 'Do you want me to go to Japan to deal with it?'

'No. I have a plan already in place that I drew up in case Ron was alive.'

Marx hung up.

He turned to Bonnie, who was sitting opposite him on a sofa chair.

Apart from being somewhat darker as a result of living in the desert for the last six months her physical appearance had not changed much but the brutal training she had undergone over the last six months had seen a fundamental change in her personality. She had become more focused and much of the conceited attitude she had when she arrived had been beaten out of her. Commandant Lyons had not spared her the savage training the other recruits had gone through.

He handed her a Budweiser beer which she gratefully accepted. Although there were no laws against alcohol in Niger, despite the country being predominately Muslim, it was practically impossible to buy the stuff outside of areas with large ex-pat populations like the nation's capital of Niamey. In the Fort there was no ban on alcohol but if people wanted the stuff they had to pay for it out of their own money and shipments of alcohol that arrived by plane were rare and hideously expensive. Thus, the chance to drink it for free was too good to pass up, even if she wasn't a major fan of beer.

He sat down on the sofa chair next to her. He opened up a bottle of Level 42 vodka – orange flavoured.

'Six months in Fort Laval is a long time,' he told her. 'It makes people focus on what really matters.'

'I've noticed,' Bonnie remarked.

'What would you say is your driving passion?'

'To serve the Organisation,' she answered eagerly, too eagerly.

'Please spare me the sycophantic butt crawling,' he answered warily. 'I want the truth, Rockwaller.'

'You want the truth?' Bonnie stated. 'I want to kill Kim Possible for setting me up with that perverted drug addicted, Shego-screwing ex-boyfriend of mine.'

'Is that it?'

With a blazing intensity that caught him by surprise she leaned over towards him and snarled, 'I want to get back at her for cheating me out of the captaincy of the cheerleading team that was rightfully mine. I want her to pay for upstaging me at the talent show that was rightfully mine to win. Iwant her to suffer sniffing around my ex-boyfriends Brick Flagg and Hirotaka, and for letting her brothers destroy my convertible sports car!'

'Would you do anything to get revenge?'

'Yes.'

'I want you to take care of Ronald Stoppable.'

'Take care as in…?'

'What I've been spending my money training you to do.'

A creepy grin crept across her face. No elaboration was necessary. Marx knew she would do what she needed to do.

'Grab your things because you're off to Japan.'


	22. Chapter 22

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Yamanouchi Ninja School was located two thirds of the way up the side of a mountain that was also called Yamanouchi. According to legend the School was carved out of the mountain with the shape shifting Lotus Blade by the school's founder Toshimiru in ancient times. It was considered to be the one of the original schools of _Tai Sheng Pek Kwar_, a type of kung fu that was modelled on the five personality styles traditionally associated with them. Although the school taught all five monkey personality styles most students began to specialise in one or two styles by the time they were teenagers.

Officially, the school had been shut down by the U.S military occupation authorities shortly after the end of the Second World War but, in reality, the school continued to operate with funding from ultra-nationalist business leaders. Even most of the locals in the nearby city of Ina genuinely didn't know the school was still operating but they did know the mountain was strictly off limits and many hikers who ignored warnings about the mountain met with unfortunate accidents.

Such things were of little interest to the teenage girl exercising in the courtyard in the warm cascading monsoon rain. In her mind she could only hear the words 'Burokku, burokku, panchi, panchi, kikku, hidari kikku migi, burokku...' In well rehearsed moves done at the pace of a heart beat she performed her moves as she had done three times a day, as she had always done as long as she could recall.

Unlike most of the students she enjoyed performing her _Tai Sheng Pek Kwar_ exercises in the rain, the discomfort of her sodden white _gi_ clinging to her body reminding her of the hardships that were faced by those who had gone through the school before her. Upon completing her exercises she walked up to the nearby Shinto shrine and knelt down to pray. She was joined by Ron Stoppable, the Shinpi-tekina monkīmasutā, who knelt down next to her.

He said, 'Yori, I think that going into Ina was a bad idea.'

Yori remarked. 'Stoppable-san, The enemy has been frozen in stone for nearly two years. I cannot see how Monkey Fist, Yono or any other villain could pose any further threat to us.'

'It isn't that,' Ron said. 'When we were in Ina there was a dude taking a photo of a rubbish truck when we walked past . If he caught us on camera and he puts the photo on the Internet it will show that I am alive. That could cause problems.'

'Don't worry yourself about such things, Stoppable-san. If anything happens we will fight to defend you.'

They stood up and made their way back to the main building where Sensei was waiting for them. Both teenagers bowed to him reverently.

Sensei said ominously, 'Shinpi-tekina monkīmasutā, I can sense a malevolent threat even more dangerous than the Yono.'

Yori exclaimed, 'How can anything be more dangerous than the Yono?'

'There are many dangerous elements in the physical and spiritual worlds, Yori-sen. Of all of them the most dangerous are those who commit great evil to achieve what they view as noble goals.'

'Master, the training we have given the Shinpi-tekina monkīmasutā enables him to master his powers. If this enemy of which you speak dares to show his face here he will be defeated.'

'He has learned to control his powers, Yori. He has yet to master them.'

'None the less, he is of strong character and physical prowess.'

'But he has many immature attributes that could work against him when the time comes to battle the evil I can sense. He is also easily distracted by… other temptations.'

Yori had no doubt what Sensei was telling her. Her relationship with the Shinpi-tekina monkīmasutā had become more intimate since they first met but, as yet, she had not worked up the courage to ask him out. Instead she had to content herself with the idea of living in close proximately with someone who made her go weak at the knees every time she was in his presence.

Sensei said, 'Come, walk with me.'

They walked through the school as Yori admitted, 'Shinpi-tekina monkīmasutā fears our photo may have been taken in error in Ina a few days ago. Is this something we should be concerned about?'

'The enemy has eyes everywhere and not all his eyes know they're doing the devil's work.' He pointed upwards. Yori nodded, understanding what he meant.

Ron merely gazed up and stated, 'Nah, not seeing it.'

Sensei laughed derisively, 'One day you will.'

They returned to the main building. They walked to Yori's quarters. Outside, Sensei said to Ron, 'Excuse me, Shinpi-tekina monkīmasutā, but I need to speak to Yori alone.'

Ron took the hint.

Yori slid open the paper and timber door to her quarters and stepped inside, followed by Sensei. He took a seat at her desk and asked her to take a seat. Taking on the tone of a concerned father he said, 'I am concerned about the depth of your feelings for Stoppable-san. I fear those feelings are of a sexual nature.'

Yori gasped in both embarrassment and surprise, 'Sensei!'

The old man smiled weakly. 'Just because I'm old it doesn't mean I do not see these things happening. It is important that you do not allow your feelings towards the Shinpi-tekina monkīmasutā cloud either your judgement or his.'

'You have nothing to be concerned about, Sensei.'

'There are also politics involved. It had always been taken for granted the Shinpi-tekina monkīmasutā would be Japanese so it came as a shock when the stone monkey selected a Westerner to fulfil the role. While they have little choice but to accept this they will not tolerate a Western Shinpi-tekina monkīmasutā consorting with a Japanese woman.'

Yori glared at Sensei. 'With respect, Sensei, I do not believe race should come into this discussion. If I have such feelings for the Shinpi-tekina monkīmasutā they are my business.'

'Yori-sen, I agree with you but I must also put the interests of Yamanouchi ahead of what my personal sentiments on this matter may be. For all our sakes you must do likewise.'

'I do not wish to discuss this matter any further,' Yori hissed. 'Can you leave my room? I need to change.'

They bowed respectfully before the elderly man left her quarters, closing the sliding door shut behind him.

Uncomfortably aware that she was standing in wet clothes that were getting cold she was about to change when there was a tapping at her door.

'Come in,' she sighed.

In walked Ron and his naked mole rat.

He asked, 'What did Sensei say?'

'Sensei says we cannot date.'

'Then I guess we will have to be friends with benefits.'

Yori looked at him, confused. 'What is this phrase "friends with benefits" that you speak of? Is it one of those American... anagrams?'

'It means we remain friends but we kiss and make out.'

'You Americans and your strange customs...,' Yori said as Ron reached over and kissed her on the lips.

When their lips parted Yori smiled.

She gazed into the blond man's eyes. Moments later, they were lying on her futon bed pulling, yanking and tearing at each other's clothes as they smothered each other in passionate kisses...


	23. Chapter 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

At least that's what took place in her daydream.

She was actually kneeling on the floor in the temple, hands clasped in prayer.

After Sensei had left her room she had gone straight to the temple to reflect on his words. As reluctant as she was to admit it she knew Sensei was right. She was in love with Ron and she really did want to make love to him but there was too much at stake. It wasn't just because her love could interfere with Ron's training to master his monkey powers but also because of Yamanouchi's internal politics. If she was to start dating him it would cause the school and Sensei to lose face.

In Japanese culture losing face was probably the worst thing that could happen. One's public image was everything and she knew it. Yamanouchi held itself up as an institution that extolled the very highest of traditional Japanese values – or at least the values that were held in regard by the ultra-nationalists who ran the school. One of those values was racial purity, which meant that non-Japanese had no business being at the school. The only reason why Ron's presence at the school was tolerated was because the stone monkey had proclaimed him the Shinpi-tekina monkīmasutā. However, being the Mystical Monkey Master didn't mean a realtionship between himself and a Japanese girl would be acceptable.

And it wasn't just within Yamanouchi's Board of Directors that the notion of Yori going out with a non-Japanese man, especially one with the nobility of Yori, was regarded as disgraceful. Even in Ina there were people who didn't approve of seeing a Japanese girl so much as holding hands with a white man, something that was brought to her attention when she had gone down to Ina with Ron.

Bueno Nacho had just opened a new branch in Ina. Somehow Ron learned about this and decided to head down to the city on a weekend. He didn't want to go on his own so he talked Yori into going with him.

They had walked down to Ina, an arduous walk down the mountain. He was as excited as a little child so it took much of her energy trying to catch up with him. Once they reached the outskirts of the city she linked arms with him so she could restrain him but the handful of people who saw them took a very different interpretation.

'Ha! Fuketsuna gaikoku-jin o ijitte, sono hajishirazu no baishun-fu o mite kudasai!' Some of the older ladies jeered.

'Honmono no nipponjin dansei to no nani ga mondaina nodeshou ka?' Some of the men jibed.

She was both hurt and shamed by the comments made by these folks. To shield him from the comments she convinced him through the back streets under the guise of "taking a short cut" until they arrived at the Bueno Nacho. As they crossed the street in front of one of the city's new sanitation trucks a man dressed in khaki and black snapped their picture.

At the Bueno Nacho he behaved like a child let loose in Smarty Mart.

He paid for their order and they retired to a quiet booth where Yori finally asked him a question that had perplexed her since he had arrived at Yamanouchi. 'Stoppable-san, why did you dump Kim Possible? She is a beautiful young woman, a former cheerleading captain and very intelligent. You seemed the perfect match.'

He looked up from his meal, his eyes ablaze with anger she hadn't noticed before. 'It was always about her. We went on, like, hundreds, of missions and everyone remembered Miss Perfect. Kim Possible the cheer captain, the beautiful girl just about everyone wanted to fuck, the straight A girl who only had to open her mouth and everyone listened. I was merely the buffoon who kept losing his pants.'

'When you two were together I sensed she loved you deeply.'

'She loves having me make her look even better than she really is.'

'That is a harsh thing to say.'

'It's true, though.'

'Ah, Stoppable-san, if she really saw you in such a way I doubt she would have stood by you all these years or gone out with you.'

'She felt sorry for me.'

Before she had a chance to answer a few young men walked in. It was obvious they were looking for trouble. What bothered her was they weren't Yakuza hoodlums but extreme right wing nationalists armed with knives.

Very quickly the locals vacated the building but Yori had no intention of leaving.

One of the men saw the two. He yelled, 'Nē, mite, koko de wa, gaikoku no sukamu o fakkurēsu no baishun-fuda!'

Yori stood up and stated, 'Sumimasen ga, sensei ga, watashi wa anata ga ryōhō jibun ni shazai to shuchō - .'

She was punched in the head, knocking her down.

Ron faced the thug and said, 'That was not very nice.'

'What will you do about it?' The man sneered. 'A bony foreigner is no match for a Japanese man.'

The blond teenager stood up. As he did so he was enveloped with a pale blue light. He smiled maliciously as he said, 'If you are wise, you'd get out of here.'

The other thugs in the room laughed at his threat. Big Mouth produced his knife and held it up against Ron's throat.

'Do your worst, foreigner.'

Moments later, Big Mouth was thrown through the window in a deafening crash. His friends made a rush for Ron but he lashed out with his feet, breaking the nose of one of the assailants. A second one had his teeth smashed down his throat. Two others had barely managed to draw their knives before he grabbed them by the ears and bashed their heads together, knocking them out.

It was then the police arrived.

Both Yori, whose forehead was bleeding profusely, and Ron dashed out through the back of the restaurant as they assumed, correctly, the police would blame them for the situation. Once they had got out of the restaurant they made their way to the markets to gather a few things they had been asked by their friends at the school to pick up.

It was dark by the time they got back and, though Sensei had noticed the gash on her forehead, he didn't say anything about it but he had a pretty good idea what happened.

And, now, here she was, kneeling in the temple praying in frustration because she had fallen for the one man she knew deep in her heart she could never have. Once she had finished her prayers she got up and left the temple to get some pizza from the dining hall before Ron had eaten all the pizza.


	24. Chapter 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Hirotaka was surprised when Marx had rung him up at home and told him Bonnie Rockwaller was coming to Ina. Without even bothering to ask him if it was okay he stated she was to stay at his home - an idea he wasn't adverse to - and that he was to look after her until she had completed her assignment. When Hirotaka had asked Marx what her assignment was the reply was a curt 'You don't need to know.'

That was the reason why he was racing to Nagoya in the early afternoon on his 750cc Yamaha motorcycle in the heavy monsoon rain that made the road slick and caused a heavy mist to rise up the valleys which created a picture postcard image for tourists but which also made riding difficult as it was nearly impossible to see anything more than a few feet in front of him. By the time he reached Nagoya airport terminal he was thankful just to be alive.

He parked his machine then went off to search for Bonnie.

She wasn't hard to find. Hispanic girls with shoulder length shaggy haircuts and large breasts were easy to find in a place like this, especially ones wearing the khaki and black uniform of the Organisation. On seeing her he was impressed by how hot she looked, even more so than when he met her at her high school.

His first word to her was a sultry 'Hi.'

Bonnie dropped her _Sophistication_ magazine. She gave him a big hug that almost choked the man then smothered him with a long kiss on the lips then backed off, blushing at how brazen she had been.

'Uh, hi,' she stammered. 'I'm sorry.'

'Don't be,' he stated. 'I'm not.'

'It's been quite a while since, well, you know.'

'Marx said as much.'

'Huh?'

'We'd better get a move on if we're going to make it back to Ina before nightfall,' he said as he took her by the arm and led her through the terminal, arousing more than a small amount of interest amongst the passengers who observed them as they walked through the terminal imperiously as if they owned the place. Many of the people who watched them were unimpressed by this shameful lack of discretion.

His motorcycle impressed her. Hirotaka watched as Bonnie put on her helmet and climbed onto the back of the motorcycle. The throbbing of the engine between her legs certainly had an effect on her. He climbed onto the machine, waiting until Bonnie slid her hands around his waist before revving it up and speeding out of the airport.

It was a three hour ride in which the rain progressively got worse, if that was possible, so by the time they pulled into the carport of Hirotaka's house they were both drenched. They dashed inside the house.

'I should show you your room,' he suggested as he led her down the hallway. Sliding open one of the doors he ushered her in, saying, 'It's not four star but it's comfortable.'

'After six months of sleeping in a bunk bed this is luxury,' she answered truthfully as she placed her bag by the bed.

Hirotaka laughed knowingly at the truth of her statement. Like Bonnie he had also spent six months at Fort Laval and, therefore, understood Bonnie's sentiments. 'There's nothing like the Saharan Hilton to make you appreciate the comforts of home, my sweet Bon-Bon.'

He slowly slid his hand around her waist and pushed it down inside her skirt. She clamped her hand around it and pulled his hand out. Twisting herself out of his embrace she turned to face him. The scowl on her face amused him.

'No,' she snapped.

'You know you want to,' he said.

'I'm jet lagged,' she groaned. 'I'm soaked and I'm hungry.'

'Whatever,' he hissed. 'The bathroom is on the other side of the hallway. There's towels on the railings and if you need anything else,' he ran a finger down one of her breasts, 'just call out.'

She grabbed her bag and headed for the bathroom, feeling self-conscious knowing that he was checking out her butt but also glad that someone was noticing her as a woman rather than an object to be moulded into an efficient killing machine for the glory of the Organisation for the first time in many months.

Hirotaka tried to join her in the bathroom but, as she walked in, she slammed the door shut in his face and locked it, leaving him to go and find something to do to take his mind off her hot, sexy body.

His mobile phone rang, startling him. He answered with a simple 'Hei.'

'Good evening, Hirotaka,' Marx stated in a voice that made the hairs on his neck stand on end. 'I hope you don't need reminding to keep your hands to yourself. I need her mind focussed on her mission, not your joy stick. Not that she would be particularly impressed with seven inches.'

Ouch!

Hirotaka barked into the phone, 'I don't have to take this crap from you, Marx!'

'Actually, you do. If I have any reason to believe you're messing with my operation you'll be receiving a visit from Tori.'

Click.

Furious, he threw the mobile phone across the living room. It was all he could do because he knew that Marx held all the cards. Hirotaka made the mistake of assuming that the Organisation wouldn't check his background when he signed up as a rubbish truck driver but he was wrong. The Organisation's intelligence branch discovered he'd been kicked out of Yamanouchi after he got an underage student pregnant. The girl was named Hana and was adopted by the Stoppables, who were oblivious to the real origins of their baby. From the moment Marx found this out he'd blackmailed him into doing whatever he wanted. Hirotaka knew the bastard wouldn't hesitate to reveal to both Bonnie and the Stoppables who Hana's daddy was if he felt the need to do so.

Yet, it wasn't the blackmail that he feared the most. It was his second in command Tori. The Taiwanese born woman was feared by everyone and with good reason. Camille Leon had been killed by a bomb a few nights ago and Tori had been taken in for questioning. Although no one could pin anything on her the rumours began to circulate she had been assassinated because she had been exposed as an informant for the French DGSE.

For now he thought discretion would be the better option.

As he got up to make some dinner he heard a helicopter pass overhead at an unusually low altitude.


	25. Chapter 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Although Kim tried everything to convince Shego to change her mind about sending Monique to Japan to find out if Ron was alive, even by deploying her powerful puppy dog pout, there was nothing she could do to persuade the woman to change her mind. As soon as Wade was able to get the paperwork authorising Shego to travel to Nice the Afro-American and the pale green women were on their way to Japan.

Monique spent most of the flight to Japan watching GWA videos and doing a crash course in Japanese etiquette with Shego. Upon arriving in Tokyo they flew by helicopter to Ina. As they flew over the town Shego explained, 'We're going to land at a hotel about a third of the way up the mounain so you'll be able to walk up the track to the school. The map showing the tracks is in your backpack. Don't forget, you're only here to find out if Stoppable's still alive and if he's willing to return to Monaco. If he says no then just return to the hotel.'

'What if I run into one of the bad guys?'

'It's best if you do whatever you can to prevent them from trying to reach Yamanouchi.'

'You mean…?'

'That's your call. If you can, avoid harming them. However, that might not be an option.'

'I'm not sure if I can.'

'If I didn't think you could do it you would not be here.'

The hotel loomed into view. Shego manoeuvred the helicopter into position to prepare for landing but the warm air created by the heavy rain was making landing much rougher than she was used to but she was able get the machine to land after some difficulty. Out of the corner of her eye she was amused to see Monique was holding onto her seat with a vice like grip, her face pale with fear, as the machine bounced around from the turbulence. Monique finally breathed a relieved sigh once she felt the bump of the machine touching the small helicopter pad.

As Monique pushed open the door Shego grabbed the girl's shoulder and pulled her round to face her. She reached over and gave the girl a long, lingering kiss on the mouth. When their lips parted Monique opened her mouth to say something but couldn't think of anything. Instead she grabbed her bag and jumped out of the helicopter.

Shego watched as she dashed inside the building, thinking how hot she looked in her red dress with the black belt. Then she took off from the landing pad, thinking of how her lips tasted like oranges.  
Monique was still in a state of shock when she walked into the foyer of the hotel where she was greeted by a pleasant enough man twice her age. He greeted her with a bow, which she returned, and asked her to accompany him upstairs to the room he had set up for her.

After inspecting it she said, 'I'll take it.' He gave her the key. Then he left her alone to unpack.

Monique had to admit Shego had good taste in such things. Taste… she shuddered as she remembered Shego's kiss. The taste of her black lips was sweet, like liquorice, and her breath was minty. It was awesome but she wanted that kiss to come from Kim, not the psycho chick who'd spent most of the last several years trying to kill her best female friend.

Her mobile phone rang.

'Hi, Mon.' Kim's voice was slurred. 'How's it going in Japan?'

'I just got here,' Monique snapped.

'Hey,' Kim protested. 'No need to bite my head off.'

'Sorry, girlfriend, but I've got jet lag and Shego did something really freaky.'

The voice on the other side turned serious. 'What?'

'She kissed me.'

An awkward silence followed.

'She kissed you?'

'It was freaky, girlfriend. I was getting out of the helicopter and she pulls me back and kisses me _on the lips_!'

'Was there any tongue action?'

'_KIM_!'

'Did you like it?'

'A little,' she conceded.

'Really,' Kim mocked.

'No, it was wonderful! I felt so horny when she kissed me.'

'Did you want to go all the way?'

'Girlfriend, I'm so not going to answer _that_.'

Kim laughed, 'I take it then that you're over me.'

'Actually…,' Monique trailed off, unsure what to say next.

'You total slut!' Kim guffawed. 'You, like, want to do it with the both of us and squirt, like, - !'

'_KIM!_ Don't be so crude!'

'But it's true!'

Monique hung up on her. She was getting annoyed because it was obvious that her best female friend had been hitting the wine. Both she and Shego had noticed, not without some concern, that when she got tipsy she tended to blurt out whatever she was thinking. As she was jet lagged the last thing she wanted to put up with was a drunken Kim making crude remarks.

Irritably, she unpacked her bag, which had been packed by Shego. It was weird to see her intimate things packed with precision by other hands but it was obvious Shego was an expert in packing and travelling light. Everything in it was based on practicality rather than style so there were hiking shorts and cotton shirts rather than short skirts and stylish dresses, heavy duty shoes rather than high heels and the gadgets that she had come to call her mission stuff. There was also a small first aid kit which, in addition to all the usual stuff like bandages and anti-septic cream, contained a few condoms and tampons.

'Typical Shego,' she muttered to herself.

Suddenly aware of her lack of sleep she kicked off her shoes and lay down on the bed for what she thought would be a brief nap. It was a knock on the door from the cleaning lady the following morning that woke her up.


	26. Chapter 26

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

The monsoon rains didn't let up for several days so both Bonnie and Hirotaka were unable to climb up Mt Yamanouchi. Even at the best of times it was a challenging climb because it was criss-crossed with tracks that disorientated most hikers. That was no accident: the tracks had been deliberately designed that way to ensure that hikers never got near the Yamanouchi Ninja School. To further confuse people no maps given by local tramping guides provided any information about the mountain except to announce it was off limits to the public. It was even worse when it rained heavily because the tracks were often flooded or turned into bogs. Only a couple of tracks didn't suffer from that problem but they were well concealed. That was the only reason Bonnie needed Hirotaka.

Bonnie's mood did not improve over those days. After so many months of almost constant activity she found it difficult to wind down and relax. Rather than hang around the house with a horny Hirotaka hitting on her at every opportunity he could she went exploring the city to see what it had to offer. It was during one of her walks into town that she saw Monique with Shego. The manner in which the two females implied they had become good friends.

She contacted Marx as soon as she returned to Hirotaka's place.

Marx stated, 'You're to head straight up to Yamanouchi and establish contact with Ron, regardless of the weather.'

Hirotaka was not happy with these instructions but he could only mutter angrily under his breath.

Just before dawn the following morning Bonnie was woken up by a pair of hiking boots being thrown in her face. 'Wakey, wakey, gorgeous. We have a mountain to climb.'

Bonnie let loose with some very colourful phrases before climbing out of bed.

She kneed him in the crotch as she walked out of the bedroom. 'I'm so not a morning person, honey,' she hissed.

Within the hour they were riding up the road on Hirotaka's motorcycle that would take them part-way up the mountain. The rain was only light so it wasn't so bad by the time they set off up Mt Yamanouchi. Hirotaka had taken the lead from the moment they had left the road. Watching him as he walked reminded her of why she had such a crush on him when he'd been an exchange student at Middleton High all those years ago. There was no getting over the fact he had great abs and his butt was to die for. She would've jumped him in a heartbeat but she had found the adrenalin rush that came from the thrill of the hunt much more arousing.

Marx had been specific in his intructions. 'It doesn't matter how you do it. Confirm Ron's alive then do everything in your power to ensure he cannot leave Yamanouchi. If that means killing him then so be it.'

There was only one problem. She didn't have any particular animosity towards Ron Stoppable. She thought he was a loser but definitely not a threat to anyone. Being sent out to take out that pathetic reject was like being sent out to hunt sheep in a paddock. Then again, the money she was being offered for successfully carrying out her mission was too good to pass up.

'There's been a lot of rain,' Hirotaka remarked. 'It's possible the bridge across the Yamanouchi River has been swept away. Hope you can swim.'

'I'm a good swimmer,' she bragged.

'Your high school swimming pool doesn't count.'

'Who said anything about a swimming pool?'

'I'm just warning you, Bon-Bon.'

'Yeah, consider me warned. And stop calling me Bon-Bon.'

He swung round angrily, 'What's up with you? Ever since you got here you've been such a bitch!'

'I could ask you the same thing,' she retorted. 'You've been talking down to me like I'm still at high school. I'm a woman on a mission.'

'Like sucking up to Marx,' he retaliated. 'You American girls are all the same. It's all about status, not honour or respect.'

Bonnie snarled, 'I have never kissed his ass. He came looking for me, he hired me and he assigned me this mission. I had nothing to do with any of it.'

'Why would he hire a spoilt bitch like you?'

'Screw you, Hirotaka,' she yelled and pushed him aside angrily.

'Where are you going?' He yelled after her. 'You still need me to get there!'

'If I can find my way around a bloody desert I think I can find my way around this damned mountain. It's just a case of going up until I run into it!'

'If it was that simple then why the hell am I babysitting you for?'

'Local knowledge gets the job done faster than screwing around with GPS and maps. Assuming the ninja school is on a map!'

'Which it isn't,' he crowed triumphantly.

'So I guess we're stuck with eac other until we get there. After that, it's Sayonara to you.'

'Marx's orders were for me to take you there and bring you back.'

'He also said I'm in charge. In other words, I give the orders, not you.'

Hirotaka glared at the brunette: her turquoise eyes blazing with an intensity he hadn't seen before. Seeing her stand there, her khaki blouse and one of her hands on her shapely hips in that regulation khaki skirt while the other gripped the hunting knife tucked into her leather belt he suddenly grasped that she would just as easily kill him if she thought it was in her interests to do so.

They walked on in a sullen silence, each lost in their own thoughts as they made their way up the mountain along a track that progressively got narrower and more treacherous until they could hear the sound of the Yamanouchi River in full flood. Normally, the river was about ten metres below the track but the river was now level with the track. Parts of the track had been swept away, which forced them to clamber along the bank until they got past the washed out parts. The track suddenly turned towards a bridge, only to find the river sweeping over it.

Bonnie cried out, 'I am so not going back down this damn mountain to find another track but I don't like the look of that.'

Hirotaka jeered, 'Is the big and tough Bonnie Rockwaller scared of a little bit of water on a bridge?' But, he too, was not so sure it was a good idea to cross over it.

The bridge was a small one which she guessed was about thirty metres long with small wooden railings on both sides. Water was rushing over the bridge deck so she climbed up onto the wooden railing and walked across the bridge. He stopped occassionally when the bridge shook. As she neared the end she yelled back, 'Coming over, big boy?'

Unable to resist the challenge Hirotaka followed Bonnie's example by climbing onto the railing. 'I'm coming over!'

Hirotaka was far too cocky to let the swaying deter him, although he had to slow down and tread carefully after several steps. He could now see the bridge was shaking more violently than it had been only a few moments earlier. 'Ā kuso, watashi wa watashi no jikan ga kite iru to omou,' he muttered as he heard a loud crack and the bridge began to break near the middle. He jumped off the railing but the force of the water was so strong it swept him off his feet and sent him sliding across the bridge and slamming into the railing on the other side but he was still conscious.

Bonnie screamed, 'Hirotaka! Get up! The bridge is -!'

The section of bridge he was on broke away, taking him with it. She saw him scramble to his feet. He called out something but she couldn't hear him. All she could do was watch as he disappeared downstream. She hoped he had survived but she wasn't going back downstream to find out. Her training had taught her the mission was more important than personal discomfort or sentiment.

With the only source of knowledge about the mountain having disappeared with him she now had to find her own way to where she needed to go. The best course of action, she reasoned, was to follow the river. Eventually she had to reach the school. She just hoped she didn't bump into the ninjas along the way.


	27. Chapter 27

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

'The main bridge is gone,' Sensei said as he walked into the library located on the top floor of the main building. 'If the bridge over the gorge goes we'll be cut off.'

Yori sensed that Sensei hadn't told her the full story. 'Sensei, I sense there is something bothering you.'

'Indeed there is. The patrol that saw the collapse of the bridge said that two people were on it. Hirotaka was swept away but a girl had made it across. This photo was sent to me.'

Yori saw the photo. 'She looks familiar.'

Ron stammered, 'That's Bonnie Rockwaller. What's she doing here?'

'Is not she the girl who caused you so much grief at high school?' Yori asked.

'Yeah but I can't see why she would be here. It's possible she's here to meet me but...'

'How did she know you were here and why does she want to see you?' Yori finished off his sentence with a hint of both suspicion and jealousy in her voice.

Sensei picked up on it. 'Now is not the time for jealousy. Regardless of why she is here we cannot risk our security being breached by this intruder.'

Their conversation was interrupted by one of the kitchen staff. 'Shikashi yamauchigawa wa, sono ginkō ga kowarete iru anata no giron o chūdan suru tame ni, sensei o watashi o yurushi. Wareware wa sattō shite iru. '

'Hijō ni yoku, watashi wa mina ga kōdai ni idō shite inakereba naranai. '

The staff member left the library.

Sensei stated, 'The river has burst it's banks. Stoppable-san I suggest you assist us with moving those who risk being flooded out to higher ground. Yori-sen, it would be best if you set out to find this girl and find out what her business is.'

Ron peered out of the window and sighed as the monsoon rains resumed with even more intensity than before, if that was possible.

A flash of lightening followed by a loud boom startled Rufus, Ron's naked mole rat, who hid in his pocket. He patted his naked mole rat, Rufus, on his head and said, 'Yeah, I know, little buddy. I hate the thunder, too.'

'It stinks,' Rufus chattered.

Ron said, 'Let's grab some pizza.'

Sensei shook his head. 'No time, Stoppable-san. We need to move people to higher ground.'

'Sorry, buddy,' Ron said to Rufus. 'Duty calls.'

While Ron joined the others in their mission to help evacuate those students in the parts of the school threatened by flooding Yori had gone straight to her room where she changed out of her school uniform and into her ninja uniform. She didn't go out the door but climbed out the bathroom window to avoid the crush of people on the stairs and in the corridors. Once she landed on the ground she headed into the hills. She reasoned, correctly, that Bonnie would've headed into the hills to avoid the floodwaters.

Yori found the going tough. Ninja shoes might've been good for sneaking around but they were useless in the muddy ground with the result she spent a lot of time sliding rather than walking. For the most part she could hold her balance but when a muddy bank gave way she landed on top of a stunned Bonnie, sending both crashing into a muddy bog.

It was Yori who recovered first. She said, 'What are you doing here, Rockwaller?'

'It's none of your business.'

'You're trespassing and I'm well within my rights to kill you,' Yori warned her. 'Either explain yourself or...' She gestured with a throat cutting gesture.

Bonnie smiled. 'I'm here to see Ron Stoppable.'

'How did you know he was here?'

Actually, she didn't know but Yori's question confirmed it. 'I had my suspicions.'

'Why do you need to see him?'

'I can't answer that.'

'Who are you working for?'

Bonnie lied, 'A friend of Kim's.'

Yori glared at her. She wasn't convinced by Bonnie's answer but she had no reason to suspect she might be lying. Yori pulled the Hispanic girl to her feet. They began the walk back to the school, which proved to be very difficult in the heavy rain and the mud. Neither spoke, primarily because they were exhausted as they had to climb up nearby banks several times because the tracks had ceased to exist.

By the time they walked into the main building the monsoon rains had resumed. Sensei led both of them into the temple. Ever the practical person he suggested, 'You two need to change into dry clothes. Go to the hot baths and I will get one of the other girls to retrieve your clothes.'

Just as they were about to leave Ron walked in.

He saw Bonnie standing there.

'What are you doing here?'

Bonnie smirked in that sarcastic manner that she had mastered at high school. 'My employer, Kevin Marx, wanted me to confirm that you are alive. He also wants me to make sure that you have no intention of leaving these parts.'

'And what if I said I intended to leave?'

'I'm to stop you.'

'We're not at high school any more, Bon-Bon,' Ron remarked derisively. 'In case you didn't get the memo I'm the Shinpi-tekina monkīmasutā. I'm not the loser sidekick any more.'

'You're not the only one who's picked up a few new tricks, Stoppable.'

From inside her skirt she pulled out a dagger which she aimed at the blond. Yori lashed out with her foot, kicking the dagger out of her hand. Bonnie responded by punching Yori in the head and kneeing her in the stomach, winding the Asian girl.

'You really should not have done that,' Ron hissed as his body began to shimmer in a pale blue haze.

Bonnie smiled condescendingly. 'So this must be the mystical monkey voodoo I heard so much about.'

Sensei cautioned, 'It is wise not to mock that which you don't understand, Rockwaller-sen.'

'I am so over all this solemn pseudo-spiritual crap,' she jeered. Nevertheless she could see a transformation taking hold. Rather than stick around she said, 'I'm out of here.' As she jumped out of the window she flung a second dagger towards Ron in a move that would've impressed even a Hollywood stunt double.

When she hit the ground below she sent the students scurrying in all directions in confusion then made a dash for the hills.


	28. Chapter 28

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Ron hit the floor with a sickening thud, the dagger protruding from his stomach.

Yori screamed fearfully, '_Ron!_'

Both Sensei and Yori rushed to his side but it was obvious to Sensei that the dagger had caused him injury but not enough to kill him if they got him to the First Aid room immediately.

'_Is he going to be okay?_' Yori exclaimed.

Sensei pushed her aside. He yelled, 'Get him to the First Aid room now!' Two ninjas wearing Red Cross armbands carried him to the First Aid room. There was a lot of blood but these ninjas had been trained as paramedics so he was in good hands. Ron was still conscious but only just.

In the temple Sensei snapped at Yori, 'Don't just stand there! Go after her!'

Yori stood up, 'Yes, Sensei.'

She leapt through the broken window and hit the ground below with a splash. The courtyard was already beginning to flood in places.

She rushed out through one of the doors and caught sight of Bonnie in the distance. To the ninja girl's surprise she noticed the Hispanic girl was making her way _up_ the mountain towards the summit. She grinned because it meant that once Bonnie got to the top she'd either have to fight or surrender. There was nowhere else to go as there was a 400 metre drop on the other side of the summit.

Although Bonnie couldn't see her she sensed she was being pursued. The only problem was she had no idea who was doing the chasing. Regardless of who the people chasing her might be she knew they were both very dangerous and they knew the mountain like the back of their hand. For her the most dangerous part of the mission was the 700 metres between the end of the tree line and the summit because she would be completely exposed to an attack. She had no doubt Yori and the other ninjas had serious kickass skills and many concealed weapons that could hurt or even kill her.

When she reached the tree line she peered out from the trees nervously.

The mist was too thick to see anything so she shrugged her shoulders and made a run for the summit. The ground was slippery from the rain with the result she slipped just as Yori threw a shuriken (throwing star) at her. It missed but only just.

'You'll need to do better than that!' Bonnie called out.

Yori pulled out a Kusari Fundo, which was a chain with a weighted end. She lashed out at Bonnie with this weapon but missed several times. The Japanese girl was surprised by her adversary's agility but she was able to hit Bonnie once on the leg. However, Yori hadn't aimed properly so it only grazed Bonnie's legs.

'I will take you down, Rockwaller! There's nowhere for you to go!' Yori called out.

'That's so not going to happen,' Bonnie called back.

'There's no way down the other side!'

Bonnie didn't reply. She simply ran the final twenty or so metres and, to Yori's shock, jumped off the summit. She pulled the disguised parachute chord and a parachute shot out of her backpack. She glided down the length of the mountain towards a Buddhist shrine. As she flew in a few people looked on curiously as anyone parachuting off Mt Yamanouchi was almost unheard of. Her landing was very hard and, for a moment, she thought she had broken something but after she got back on her feet she realised she had only bruised herself.

On the summit Yori growled, 'Watashi wa meinu wa, yama kara tobioriru koto de watashi kara hanareta koto o shinjiru koto ga dekinai! Watashi wa, watashi wa kanojo ni watashi no te o shutoku suru toki ni kanojo o korosu tsumorida!'

Defeated, at least for the moment, she made her way back to the school.

In the temple Sensei asked tersely, 'Where is Rockwaller?'

Yori admitted, 'She escaped by parachuting off the summit.'

'Then you must find her and deal to her. Do not return until you have.'

'Yes, Sensei,' Yori stated. After packing her things in a backpack she left the school. As she walked across the swing bridge she paused briefly to look at the school. 'Rufus-san, I fear I shall not return.'

She was so caught up in working out what she needed to do to get Bonnie as she made her way down the mountain she hadn't noticed the monsoon rain thundering down from above.

A few hours she stumbled through the doors of a hotel and up to the counter.

'Yori?' An unfamiliar female voice asked.

Yori turned to find herself face to face with KP's BFF.

'What are you doing here?'

Monique walked up and punched her so hard across the face she knocked the ninja girl to the floor.

'Bitch,' she hissed.

'What did you do that for?' Yori yelled back as she wiped the blood from her nose.

'Why didn't you tell us Ron was alive?'

Yori said, 'Stoppable-san was killed in a plane crash a couple of years ago.' She knew her answer was a lie but she was no mood to waste time with explanations.

'You expect me to believe that?'

The hotel receptionist remarked matter-of-factly, 'The lady is correct. There was a plane crash nearby about two years ago on Mt Yamanouchi. The air crash investigators stayed here while they investigated the crash.'

Monique asked, 'Did they find any white people among the dead?'

The receptionist admitted, 'They never told us anything.'

Shego stepped out from Monique's room. 'Did they mention anything about survivors?'

He answered, 'They said some bodies couldn't be located but they assumed the bodies had been pulverised by the crash.'

Monique scratched her head in confusion. 'Then why did that tracking chip suddenly start working? Wade said it didn't work if Ron was dead.'

Shego sneeringly asked Yori, 'Well?'

'I don't know about such things but, as far as I know, Stoppable-san was killed in that plane crash two years ago,' Yori explained.

Shego seemed to accept the explanation but there was one thing that still aroused her curosity. 'Why are you here?'

'I was kicked out of Yamanouchi for a dishonorable act.'

Monique was about to ask what act it was but Shego shook her head as a warning not to pursue that line of questioning. She was even more surprised when the woman said to Yori, 'You're a mess. You may as well change in our room.'

Yori said, 'I am most grateful for your generosity, Ojōsan.'

Monique exclaimed, 'Girlfriend, you have got to be kidding me!'

Shego said, 'She's obviously cold and wet. She's also not going to get far looking like she just stepped out of a C-grade martial arts movie.'

When Shego used that sort of cold, hard reasoning Monique merely shrugged her shoulders and walked back to the room with Yori following close behind. Once the two girls were inside the hotel room Shego slammed the door shut.

The hotel room wasn't particularly big. There was a large bedroom with a double bed inside to one side, a spacious bathroom with a large spa bath to the other. Shego said, 'You should have a bath. I'll bring in some clothes shortly.'

'Thank you,' Yori answered as she stepped into the bathroom. As she ran the bath and undressed Shego joined her. She placed a spare set of clothes on a bench.

Noticing this Monique asked suspiciously, 'What are you doing?'

'We're Japanese.' Shego stated matter-of-factly. 'Public bathing is one of our traditions.'

She shut the bathroom door behind her then climbed into the bath.

Yori said, 'I didn't know you were Japanese.'

Shego answered, 'Cut the bullshit, Yori. I am more than capable of blasting your lying yellow ass to hell so you had better come clean about what really went down with Ron.'

'I told you,' Tori cried fearfully. 'He was killed in the plane crash.'

'Look,' Shego hissed as she grabbed Yori's throat. 'I'm happy to play along with your story in front of the others because, right now, I need their heads in the game but I want the truth.'

'Very well. When the plane carrying Stoppable-san crashed he survived but he was badly hurt. We offered to call Kim Possible but he refused to let us. He recovered but Sensei became concerned that there was something or someone of great evil who posed a risk to Stoppable-san so he wanted him to stay at Yamanouchi. The evil one, Kevin Marx, sent Bonnie Rockwaller to kill him but she failed but she hurt him pretty bad. I am not to return until I capture Bonnie and return her to the school to face the consequences of her actions.'

Shego let go. 'So Bonnie tried to kill Ron under orders from Kevin Marx. Okay, here's the deal. I'll go along with that story you fed Monique but from here on in you do what I say. You give me any reason to believe you're messing with me I tell Kim everything. Understand me?'

'Yes,' Yori stated fearfully.

'Good.' Shego stood up. She climbed out of the bath and pulled on a robe. 'Tomorrow we're leaving Japan.'

Yori stated darkly, 'My honour will not be restored until Bonnie is captured or killed.'

Shego replied coldly, 'Or you.'


	29. Chapter 29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

It was extremely risky to use her parachute because of the risk the rain would cause it to collapse but it held out just long enough to enable her to land safely albeit very hard. Then she made her way down the very long and windy path from the shrine down to the bottom of the mountain. The rain had made the path slippery but she managed by a miracle to avoid slipping on the paving stones but she was drenched as she hadn't brought a proper coat with her.

In the car park toilets she fumbled around in her backpack until she found her mobile phone and called Marx. She explained what had gone down from the moment both herself and Hirotaka had left his house. Marx did not say anything until she was finished. When he did finally speak he said, 'You'll be picked up in forty-five minutes.'

She waited in the toilets only because it was raining too heavily to go back outside. Exactly forty-five minutes later a car pulled into the car park. She ventured outside to find a black Mazda sports car parked outside. Standing next to it was Tori.

'Get in,' she said.

Bonnie dashed around to the right hand side of the car.

'Where are you going? This is a right hand drive car.'

Damn! Bonnie reminded herself as she dashed around to the left side of the car and got in. Like many Americans she tended to forget the Japanese drove on the left side of the road. She felt rather dumb. Once she was inside she turned on the heater and the car radio.

Tori got in the car. 'Marx is waiting for us in Joetsu.'

They pulled out of the car park and drove off towards Joetsu, which was about two and a half hours away. Within a few minutes Bonnie had drifted off to sleep.

When she was jolted awake she noticed it was night and that they were parked in a carport next to a small house in what looked very much like a suburban street. She yawned as she got out of the car. Then she followed Tori inside where they found Marx sitting at a dining room table with two Japanese men in suits. Their bearing implied Yakuza.

'Sit,' Marx instructed Bonnie.

Bonnie did as she was told.

He said to the men, 'Sore ga ima no subete ni narimasu. Karera o kansatsu suruga, kainyū shimasen.' They bowed and left.

'Your mission was a failure,' he stated matter-of-factly.

'Ron was taken out of the picture.'

'Only for a short time. Not enough time for us to deal with the Possible problem.'

'How did you work that out?'

'Yamanouchi's a ninja school. Being stabbed is an occupational hazard in a place like that so they would have a couple of paramedics to deal with such things. The simple truth is he'll be up and about in a week with a stab wound in the stomach, unless you hit a vital organ but I doubt it.'

'So I've got to go back to finish the job?' Bonnie asked.

'No,' Marx stated bluntly. 'I don't think you're up to the job.'

He noticed the downcast expression on Bonnie's face. 'I'm sorry,' she said.

'Don't take it personally. I over-estimated you.'

'What are we going to do now?'

'DNAmy is living in Nagasaki so I'm going down there in the morning. We're not going to be able to take down Ron unless I find a way to restore Monkey Fist to life.'

Tori, who was pouring herself a coffee in the kitchen, said, 'That could take years.'

Marx said, 'There's a number of leads I've got.'

'And what do we do about Yori and the others?'

'That's up to you two to sort out.'

Tori handed Bonnie a coffee which she gratefully accepted. It was only then that Bonnie burst into a fit of sobbing. She raised an eyebrow. 'What's up with you?'

'H-H-Hirot-t-t-aka's dead!' She wailed.

Tori offered her false words of comfort. She knew he was dead as it was all over the news that he'd been found dead in the river. She was secretly relieved because it spared her the need to do the job as he had become a dangerous liability. However, it was neither the time nor place to do a little celebrating.

Aware that Bonnie was exhausted Marx suggested, 'How about you get out of these grubby clothes and have a shower while I show you how I began my career in piracy as a hamburger cook?'

As he watched Bonnie saunter off to the bathroom, almost in a stupor, he had to admit she was a very beautiful girl, as so many Hispanic girls seemed to be. His hormones stirred a little but his stomach rumbled louder so he headed for the kitchen to see what stuff was in the cupboards so he could cook something with it. To his joy he saw he had the ingredients to make the hamburgers.

Like a child let loose in a Toys 'R' Us store he hit the stove, singing a waiata as he did so. So caught up was he in the fun of cooking up what he thought was the perfect hamburger he didn't see Bonnie walk in about half an hour later, dressed in a short skirt and t-shirt.

'Wow,' she remarked cheekily. 'I didn't think I'd ever see a rich man voluntarily cooking in the kitchen unless he was a celebrity chef or gay.'

'I can't cook much more than hamburgers and "three veggies and meat" type meals so that rules out the first,' he remarked happily. 'And my raging hormones prove I'm not gay.'

She rolled her eyes as she jeered, 'Why does every man I come across have an overwhelming urge to do it with me?'

As he placed the hamburger on the table he answered, 'I didn't say I wanted to have sex with you. I said you make me realise I've still got hormones capable of raging. But, in reply to your question, you have a decent pair of breasts, a very firm butt and a very nice pair of legs. You have the natural tanned skin of a Hispanic girl and your wardrobe tends to highlight your assets. If you have what men like to look at they'll want to do the bedroom aerobics with you. Now tell me if this is the best hamburger you've ever eaten.'

As she bit into her hamburger she complained, 'It would be okay if I got the right guys but all I ever seem to attract are skeezy rich guys or chauvinistic creeps like Hirotaka.'

'It's understandable. Most people think you're either out of their league or you're already taken so the only ones who'll ever ask you out are those who think you're within their league or those who have no moral qualms about shagging any halfway decent female.'

'What am I to you?'

Marx hesitated as he thought of an answer to her question. He sat down at the table and bit into his burger.

'Yeah,' Tori jeered sardonically. 'What is she to you?'

'More important than you realise,' he stated. 'Now, back to business, did you see Ron collapse?'

In between bites she replied, 'Yes. I also saw the dagger sticking out of his stomach about here.' She gestured with her hand the approximate location where she believed the knife had struck Ron.

'Ouch. That's gonna leave a mark.'

'But not enough to kill him,' Tori said as she ate her hamburger. 'Talking about killing _Bricks of Fury – The Brickening of the Bricks _is on.' She walked over to the TV and switched it on. She crashed on the sofa.

He gazed at her with his stone cold grey eyes and asked, 'Is there anyone you've met who doesn't think you're a bitch?'

'You,' she laughed. 'Are you going to join me?'

He didn't feel like telling her that he also thought she was a bitch but he still joined her on the sofa, followed by Bonnie a few minutes later. As they watched the movie Bonnie drifted off to sleep, the events of the day.


	30. Chapter 30

CHAPTER THIRTY

Monique, Shego and Yori flew out of Japan on a ride Wade had managed to jack up the following morning. They flew to Nice. Once they arrived there they were flown to Monaco by helicopter. It was a gruelling fourteen hour flight. Once they returned to Monaco they went straight back to the apartment. It was two in the afternoon so Kim was still at university. The three females had a meal before Monique and Shego decided to head down to one of Monique's favourite cafes.

Monique saw Yori was looking worse for wear so she suggested Yori sleep off her exhaustion in her bedroom.

As the door slammed shut Shego said, 'She'll be out for a while.'

Monique responded, 'I'm sure of that.'

'I hope Kim doesn't freak out when she sees her,' the green skinned woman remarked as she took Monique by the arm. 'I'm dying for a decent coffee and we have some talking to do.'

The Café Bolchévique was a small café near the university which Shego had began to frequent when she first arrived. It served genuine Cuban coffee and was run by a Communist collective who used the profits to fund their local communist bookshop and website. Their food was fairly average but their coffee was the best.

Though the two women chatted amiably for a while, mostly talking about the latest Club Banana fashions, the conversation turned towards more serious matters.

Monique asked, 'Why did you kiss me, even though you know I'm crushing on Kimmie?'

'I find you attractive and because I know you never had a chance with Princess.'

The Afro-American teenager stared at the green skinned woman incredulously. 'Say what?'

'Kimmie's straight,' Shego stated. 'When I was under the influence of Electronique's Attitudinator and staying with the Possibles we got drunk one night and I tried to get it on with her.'

'Go on.'

'She told me in no uncertain terms she wasn't that way inclined.'

'She's loyal to whomever she goes out with. It doesn't mean she's not into other females.'

'Her exact words were "I'm not into women, Shego. I'm straight." She also won't give up on Ron, even if he is dead. Don't know why, don't care, but that's the reality.'

Monique looked downcast as Shego had coldly stuck the knife in as regards Kim but she knew within herself the truth of the statement. When she had blurted out six months earlier that she loved her Kim had comforted her but that was as far as things went. Sure, their friendship had become much closer but she knew that if Kim had really wanted to go further she would've as she wasn't the shyest person around, even if she did occasionally choke around some guys she had liked before she ended up dating Ron.

Shego said, 'If you can't love the one you want then love the one you're with.'

Monique was taken aback by the remark. 'Say what?'

'If you can't love Kim then you could always love me.'

'The truth is I don't know how I feel about you.'

'The old love/hate & good/bad thing, right?'

'That's about it.'

'I need some alone time,' Shego said as she got up and left the café. She had to admit Monique had a point: you spend years smacking down her best friend and trying to take over the world with your boss so it's understandable that someone like her would be hesitant to do more than let you kiss her a few times in a shit town in Japan.

Right now, she just wanted to have a stiff drink of the strongest liquid they sold in this Principality and get drunk. Peering over her shoulder she noticed Monique hadn't followed her. She had hoped she would but this was real life, not one of those Hollywood romantic comedies.

It didn't take long before she found a club. It was too early in the day for the dress code to be imposed so there was no one indoors to tell her that she was inappropriately dressed.

Flashing lights and thumping techno-punk music made her feel almost at home as she walked over to the bar and snapped, 'Hey, barman! Obtenez-moi un Blue Lagoon et ne pense même pas à édulcorer moins que vous avez envie de faire blaster dans la semaine prochaine!'

The bar tender got her the requested drink but before he could put glass on the bar she slammed €50 on the bar then walked off to a table in a remote corner of the bar. Upon finishing her drink she was on the dance floor, dancing it up with some of the patrons, before doing a pole dance that had everyone watching her performance, entranced. It was a routine she had perfected when she worked at O'Reilly's Karaoke Bar in Go City so many years ago. The song she did it to was a Vanessa Mae song.

Once she was finished she returned to her table where she was quickly joined by some guys who offered to buy her a drink, which she accepted.

She didn't get drunk but simply walked home when she got bored with them. Since she had moved in with Kim and Monique she never invited anyone over for a night cap. It wasn't out of any respect for her room mates but simply because her attention was focussed upon Monique. Of course, she also liked Kim but not in the same way.

When she walked into the apartment Monique grabbed her by the hand and said, 'I thought about what you said and you're right. If I can't have the one I want then I should have the one I'm with.'

'What are you talking about?' Shego asked.

Monique took the woman by the hand and led her into her bedroom.

Kim remarked, 'Something tells me she won't be coming out any time soon.'

'I'll never understand your American courting rituals,' Yori sighed.


	31. Chapter 31

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

By the time the journey from Japan to Middleton was over Bonnie, Marx and Yori had been well and truly cured of any desire to fly anywhere ever again. They had almost lost any sense of time and even Tori was somewhat shocked when she saw how irritable and tired they were when they arrived at the airport and were driven up to the lair at Mt Middleton. Despite Marx's offer to have Bonnie driven home she insisted on going up to his new lair.

It was a testimony to Tori's skills that when they turned up at the lair it looked as if nothing had been done until she pressed a button and a slab of "rock" at the base of a small mountain parted so they could drive into a tunnel that led to a lair. The tunnel was wide enough to take two lanes of traffic and there was a fair amount of it as electric cars full of construction equipment and Organisation workers were moved around. Once they reached the lair proper the threesome were left thunderstruck by how quickly it had been converted into a huge laboratory by Drakken, who was standing in the middle of it, surrounded by his biological weapons.

'Hey, I thought Drakken was in Martha's Vineyard,' Marx queried.

'Yeah, about that,' Tori said sheepishly. 'I called him a few days ago and he decided to move back in. I thought we could use some of his skills. Unfortunately he arrived with some crazy fat lady.'

'Great,' he groaned.

'She's working on the next level up,' Tori remarked dryly. 'She's even crazier than Drakken. She's brought along a statue of some monkey man.'

'Dr Amy Hall,' he remarked derisively. Her reputation as a crazy geneticist was known to him from the latest editions of _Villain's Digest_. 'What the hell is she doing here?'

Drakken announced, 'If she can find a way to free Monkey Fist we will have someone with monkey powers who can defeat Stoppable.'

'So he isn't dead after all,' Marx said.

'No,' Drakken answered condescendingly. 'He was turned to stone. DNAmy reckons that she can free him from his spell with my help.'

'I reckon she should be in a lunatic asylum.' With that remark he stepped into an elevator with Bonnie and Tori. The doors closed shut in front of him.

'Hold on,' Tori cautioned the other two. 'The lift is fast.' She pressed the top button and the car skyrocketed upwards at a speed that gave Marx a headache. When it stopped the doors opened out into what resembled an Aladdin's cave of luxury living from sofa chairs made from velvet to a large spa pool in the middle of the room. Huge picture windows looked out onto the valley and farms beyond. In the far distance it was even possible to see Middleton.

At the back the bedrooms that had originally belonged to Drakken and Shego had been cleaned out. Marx took at look at the two bedrooms but felt oddly uncomfortable being in them. He'd spent most of his life living either on a ship or in a wooden house so a lair just didn't feel right to him but he had to admit the interior decorating crew had done a good job with the rooms, although they did seem rather impersonal.

'Have the construction crews finished already?'

Tori replied, 'Pretty much. The majority of the lair was largely undamaged and the building above us was demolished to make way for a helicopter pad. Most of the work involved clearing out all the crap left behind. You might be interested to know that the clean-up crew found another diary.'

'What period does it cover?'

'2007.'

'Curious.'

'It's Kim Possible's diary.'

'What would Shego be doing with her diary?'

'It wasn't found in Shego's room. It was found among some of Drakken's rubbish being cleared away.'

'I'm surprised Kim would be keeping a paper diary.'

'Perhaps to stop Wade from snooping in it,' he guessed correctly.

He was spared the need to contribute further to the conversation as the elevator door opened and out stepped DNAmy, a woman he had never met before. In person she was even more hideous than her photos had implied with her large glasses and obese gorilla-like figure. That was on top of her reputation as a renegade geneticist.

Beaming her creepy smile she crowed, 'Thank you for letting me use your lair to find a cure for the curse that has imprisoned my lovely Monkey Fist.'

He sneered, 'It wasn't my decision.'

'Whatever,' she cried. 'Thanks anyway.'

'I take it you've had no luck in your endeavours so far.'

'No.' DNAmy's glance fell to the floor.

'Don't give up, Dr Hall,' he assured her. 'I have to go away a while to revitalize myself and hopefully find someone who may be able to help us free Monkey Fist. In the meantime I want you lot to find out everything you can about Monique and Yori from Yamanouchi.'

Tori inquired, 'If we need to contact you where will you be?'

'Home,' he answered. 'Our Japanese fiasco has made me realise that I'm going to need more than a half-trained killer, a geek and a couple of mad scientists to take down Team Possible. With Ron Stoppable likely to join Team Possible as soon as he recovers we're going to need all the help we can get.'

With that he left the lair, leaving the three women standing in the lair. DNAmy quickly departed for her own laboratory.

Bonnie and Tori exchanged glances and shuddered.

'She creeps me out,' Tori said. 'I've met a lot of creepy people in this line of work but she's the creepiest I've met in a long time.'

'How can anyone do that to their body?'

'Don't try to figure it out. Villains are not like us.'

'So why do you work for one?'

Tori smiled. 'I don't work for a villain. I work for a criminal genius.'

'Is there a difference?'

Tori paused before she answered the question. 'Criminals get things done. Villains just grandstand.'

Bonnie thought about that comment and nodded in agreement. 'True.'

'Anyway, there's a huge spa pool I've been just dying to try out. Want to join me?'

Without bothering to undress the two females jumped into the spa pool with a loud splash and raucous laughter.


	32. Chapter 32

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

The place Marx called home was a small bach in the small seaside suburb of Paraparaumu Beach on the southwest coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It was little bigger than a garage: just the way he liked it. As he put the key in the lock and slid the door open he was surrounded by his familiar things, including the stuff that he had before he became wealthy such as photos of the family he never spoke of. It was the only subject that even Tori dared not ask about.

He sat down on the sofa with his laptop and sent a short tweet to a friend before ordering a pizza before switching on the television as he waited for a friend to show up: a man well versed in the legends and practices of pre-colonial Maori pagan practices from his local tribe.

A tap on the door roused Marx from his stupor from watching a Nick cartoon about a sponge living in a pineapple. 'Come in.'

The door opened and a middle aged Maori priest walked in. The two men performed a hongi by pressing their noses together. Then they took a seat on his sofa.

'Kia Ora, Rangi,' Marx remarked warmly.

'Yeah, it has been a while, bro.'

'In regards to the matter I raised, are you able to help?'

'The solution is much easier than you realise but you will need to perform the ritual using some very basic ingredients that could be hard to find in this day in age.'

'Tell me.'

'You need the heart and blood of a kiwi and the flowers of a pohutukawa tree in full bloom.'

Marx went green at the mere thought of it. Not the kiwi but the vile smell of the pohutukawa tree flower. It looked pretty enough in its red splendour but the one time he smelt one it was a mistake he never repeated again. 'Is there any special chant?'

'You know the Ka Mate haka, I presume?'

'Don't ask stupid questions.'

'The chant is just a call to battle but what the rugby obsessed fools don't realise is it's also an ancient spell for bringing the dead back to life,' Rangi explained. 'If performed by using a specific ritual that includes draining the blood of a kiwi into a kauri bowel and grinding the pohutukawa tree flower and the kiwi's heart into the bowel until it forms a paste and smearing it upon the life-giving parts of the body of the deceased it will bring them back to life. But it can only be used once.'

Getting the kiwi involved landing on Kapiti Island in the middle of the night because it was illegal to land on the island without a permit as it was a bird sanctuary run by the local Department of Conservation and also because the kiwi was a nocturnal bird. The lack of natural predators meant the birds were friendly so the kiwi was easy to approach but Marx discovered the kiwi was a bloody fast bird that could outrun a man easily, despite being smaller than a domestic cat, so capturing it proved to be a different matter. While he was chasing the kiwi around Kapiti Island, Rangi was breaking into a museum to grab a kauri bowel. It would take another day or so before they had gathered enough pohutukawa flowers to make the paste thick enough for their needs.

Once everything had been gathered Marx contacted Tori and instructed, 'Arrête de sauter la baby-sitter, rentrer à la maison de papa.'

'Right,' Tori said before hanging up. Sometimes she really hated some of the coded phrases he would use to indicate his intentions.

His return to Middleton was long but uneventful: even the paranoid United States Air Force left him alone for once. Both himself and his aircraft were thoroughly searched but they failed to find anything on them so he was waved through the airport where he was greeted by a rather bored Tori.

'Any luck with finding who you needed?'

'Even better: I got the formula I need to resurrect the monkey man from the dead,' Marx crowed. 'If it works I would be the only person since that dude in the Bible to have raised the dead.'

Tori rolled her eyes in obvious disbelief. 'And here was me thinking you were the personification of rational thinking.'

'Hey, I'll try anything once.'

'You're crazy,' she snorted.

'It took you this long to figure that out?'

They drove back to the lair in a sullen silence with Marx rehearsing the haka in his head, still mystified as to how it could be that a simple chant repeated many times on rugby fields all over his own country was also capable of raising the dead. Once they had reached the lair he caught the elevator to DNAmy's laboratory and quickly tracked down the monkey man's statue. Luckily the woman herself was otherwise occupied.

It was difficult for him to kill the kiwi and let its blood drain into the kauri bowl then to cut out its heart and place it into the bowel. Finally he poured in the pohutukawa flowers and stirred the concoction. The concoction smelt foul and it took all his concentration to avoid vomiting.

Once the concoction was finished he performed the haka as a waiata as he pasted the concoction to where it needed to go. 'Ka mate, ka mate! ka ora! ka ora! Ka mate! ka mate! ka ora! ka ora! Tēnei te tangata pūhuruhuru! Nāna nei i tiki mai whakawhiti te rā. Ā, upane! ka upane! Ā, upane, ka upane, whiti te ra!'

Upon completion of the waiata he noticed nothing happened. After waiting around for fifteen or so minutes he finally got sick of waiting and walked off to the elevator.

To his shock a loud, obnoxious voice that only a British aristocrat was capable of possessing boomed across the laboratory. 'Oh great,' Monkey Fist said. 'I'm stuck in some crazy fool's lair.'

'A thank you for bringing you back to life would be nice,' Marx stated derisively.

'Who are you? Judging by your accent you sound Australian.'

'Actually I'm a New Zealander,' Marx remarked derisively. One of the few things guaranteed to really annoy him was to be confused for an Australian. He didn't have anything against them but he was rather fond of his home country and if a person paid close attention to what he wore they would notice he always wore a tiki that had been made out of greenstone from the West Coast of the South Island. 'Ignorant bonehead,' he grumbled.

'I'd have you know I have a Doctorate in Archaeology.'

'Well, I'd love to stand here and indulge in this pissing contest but I didn't just bring you back to life to give DNAmy her jollies. We both need to talk about a certain annoying super heronamed Kim Possible.'

'Who are you, anyway?'

'Kevin Marx,' Marx introduced himself with an extended hand which Monkey Fist ignored. 'As I was saying, we have things to discuss.'

'Very well,' Monkey Fist said as he followed Marx back to the elevator.

'You've been out of the picture for a while and a lot has happened since you became an oversized hood ornament. We got attacked by aliens called the Lorwardians, the United States is now deep in recession and there's a black President in the White House. Kim Possible and her best friend Monique are now living in Monaco with Shego and some ninja babe named Yori from Yamanouchi. Drakken and Shego got pardoned because they helped to save the world….' And so he continued to inform an increasingly stunned Monkey Fist about many other things.

After an hour or so Monkey Fist finally managed to say, 'So it seems as if Stoppable has become a formidable foe if indeed he is unhurt. I can see why you need my help in defeating the impostor. If I help you what's in it for me?'

'Name your price.'

'Ron Stoppable's head would be nice.'

'Consider it yours,' Marx remarked. 'Now we need to work out exactly how we're going to take them down.'

'Indeed.' Monkey Fist remarked, scratching his chin with his genetically modified foot.

Marx hissed irritably, 'And stop scratching yourself with your feet. It's creeping me out.'


	33. Chapter 33

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Monkey Fist was barely able to register all the changes that had happened since he had been defeated by Hana Stoppable. It was only as Marx drove him through the streets of Middleton that the truth of what the ex-pirate was telling him finally hit him. As they parked outside one of the demolished buildings with a Lorwardian machine still half buried in the rubble he remarked dryly, 'I have been away too long.'

Marx nodded in agreement. 'I've not managed to get around to rebuild these people.'

They got out and Monkey Fist clambered up the machine to nose around it, his genetically altered hands and feet giving him a natural advantage when it came up to climbing over the debris and the machine itself. He was impressed with what he saw but, as he came out with a few items from the machine, Marx indicated to him to put it back, which the monkey man did.

Once he returned to the car he said, 'Why did you ask me to leave behind the technology?'

'Because it's my machine.'

'Very well,' Monkey Fist responded. 'Were they brought down by Drakken's Flower Power and the Imposter's powers?'

'Yes,' Marx answered. 'Of course, I also brought a few of them down in the Mekong Delta without the benefit of any of that monkey voodoo shit. Those machines are certainly impressive. All things considered I'm surprised they didn't cause more damage than they did.'

'I would not dismiss the "monkey voodoo shit" as you so eloquently put it so easily,' Monkey Fist hissed.

'Whatever,' Marx answered. 'Let's get back to the lair. We've got some planning to do in light of certain events that have taken place in Japan and I'll try to keep DNAmy away from you.'

They drove back to the lair in silence. Less than half an hour later Bonnie, DNAmy, Drakken, Frugal Lucre, Marx, Monkey Fist and Tori were sitting around a table enjoying pizza. While they ate Marx began the meeting by stating, 'I stuffed up in Japan by making the most basic error of underestimating Shego and we also have a ninja girl named Yori to contend with. We can't underestimate Team Possible as a whole. Our only consolation is that Ron Stoppable is temporarily out of the picture but I don't know how long that will last.'

Drakken remarked, 'Yes, we've all made that mistake. We've also under-estimated Kim Possible many times before.'

'That's why we're going to take off the kid gloves and go for the jugular.'

'Good luck with that,' Monkey Fist remarked patronisingly. 'With Yori's ninja skills, Shego's plasma and Kim Possible's fighting skills we're facing a formidable team.'

Bonnie added, 'And Monique.'

'Who's Monique?' Drakken asked.

'The black girl Kim lives with,' she answered. 'She's her BFF.'

'Oh, right,' he grumbled. 'I doubt she has done battle with anyone of note, assuming she has done battle at all, so we can discount her for the moment.'

Monkey Fist said, 'Can't we break up the team by telling Kim that Stoppable is alive and that Yori knew all about it?'

'It's a powerful weapon best left until the right psychological moment,' Marx remarked. 'Until such a time I believe it would be best if we concentrated on launching a full scale operation in Monaco to see how they work as a team?'

'And how do you propose doing that?' Lucre asked derisively. 'Your track record up to now hasn't been the best.'

Marx turned to Lucre and snarled, 'Open your mouth again and I'll kill you.' He returned to the rest of the group. 'It's quite simple: this operation has to be a joint operation with everyone playing their part. This is one time where your egos need to be held in check. I want you lot to draw up a plan as to how you can use your respective strengths to fight them and pass them to Tori. She will check them to see what needs to be done in the event things go wrong and, trust me, they will.'

'I believe there are two whom you have ignored, Mr Marx,' Monkey Fist remarked coldly. 'Stoppable's baby sister Hana and that revolting naked mole rat he always has with him were able to defeat me, despite my powers being much greater than theirs.'

'A naked mole rat doesn't bother me,' Marx answered him. 'Neither does some little brat in Middleton.'

'That may be a mistake you'll regret.'

'Listen, monkey man, I will take them into account in whatever final plan is drawn up between you lot if it'll keep you happy.' Facing Bonnie he said, 'You're a local so I'm going to need you to start providing me with some intelligence. From what I heard you and Kim had a lot of mutual friends so they're likely to have some inside gossip that could be useful.'

Bonnie protested, 'I don't want to nark on my friends.'

'You're only providing me with gossip, not state secrets.'

'It's just wrong. I'm already being accused of being a mean, gold-digging bitch. If I become a nark I'll be run out of town like they ran Kim out.'

Everyone gathered around the table, except Marx, roared as one, '_What?_'

'What? I thought everyone here knew the man reason why K went to Monaco was because she was, like, run out of town. Once they got over the feel good factor of her saving the world they turned on her when they discovered her antics meant they couldn't get insurance paid out to rebuild the place.'

'Anything else you care to tell us?' Tori asked, the threatening tone in her voice making Bonnie a little nervous.

'Monique got a scholarship with Club Banana's fashion design school in Monaco which came with a rent-free apartment. They jacked her up with a job at the local Club Banana but the wages weren't enough to pay the bills so she asked K to move in with her. It's one of the few places where she could go without being hounded by the media and the paparazzi.'

'Whatever,' Marx remarked coldly. 'It doesn't change anything. I want plans on my desk as soon as possible.'

With that, he terminated the meeting. The various villains and their sidekicks went off to "go do the voodoo that they do so well" – to quote Mel Brooks.


	34. Chapter 34

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

**December 2009 – Four months later**

Flower vines shot out from Drakken's body and wrapped themselves around the CCTV cameras on the street. He said, 'Crush them.'

The CCTV cameras were crushed, putting them out of action. Monkey Fist and Tori rushed through the doors of the building, disabling the security guards as they did so with smoke grenades. Tori disabled the security systems by using the key card from one of the unconscious security guards and using it to over-ride the automated systems. Then herself and Monkey Fist walked through the building until they reached the floor they had been told to go to. The few security guards they encountered were quickly dispatched with one of her fearsome right hooks.

'Impressive,' Monkey Fist remarked derisively. 'Remind me not to get on your wrong side.'

She responded only with a glare.

Near the room they had been told to go to a ceiling tile fell to the floor and Kim, Monique and Yori landed on the floor.

Monkey Fist jeered, 'Oh, look! It's the cheerleader, the ninja and the whatever-the-black-girl-is-supposed-to-be.'

'Monkey Fist,' Yori spat back.

'So we meet again.'

Kim said, 'You know how this is going to end, Monkey Fist. You may as well give up.'

'I respectfully decline your offer.'

Monkey Fist launched himself against Kim and knocked her off her feet, more the result of surprise than any skill on the part of the monkey man. They rolled around on the floor a few times before Kim was able to get back on her feet. She used her combination cheerleading and kung-fu moves but was surprised to find that Monkey Fist was able to counter nearly all her moves.

'I'm impressed,' Kim conceded, 'but you're not the only one who's learned a few new moves.'

To her side Monique had only managed to land a couple of punches before she was floored by a single left hook by Tori who contemptuously kicked aside her body to deal with the woman she regarded as a worthy challenge.

'So you're Yori of Yamanouchi,' Tori stated.

'That is correct Miss Chen-sen.' Yori stated as she unleashed a flurry of punches which Tori managed to dodge with ease.

'Yamanouchi taught you well but those fancy ninja moves aren't very useful in the real world.'

'They have served me well up to now,' Yori said as one of her kicks landed in Tori's stomach, knocking her back somewhat but the Taiwanese woman was able to recover much quicker than Yori had expected. With some reluctance she remarked, 'You're much better than I expected but I think you will find my skill is much greater than yours.'

'I beg to differ,' Tori remarked as she shoulder charged Yori through one of the doors. The two Asians exchanged blows that broke teeth and sent blood and spit flying. Tori would not have admitted it openly but the truth was she had never met anyone who had remained standing after a few punches from her fists but Yori had managed to remain standing despite everything that had been thrown at her.

'Street fighter, huh?' Yori hissed as she spat blood onto the floor. She aimed a flying kick at Tori but she made a serious miscalculation with how her opponent would react. Tori grabbed her by the foot and used her momentum to send her crashing into nearby office desks with a resounding crash. It was good couple of minutes before Yori managed to ger back on her feet. From the way she was stumbling around it was obvious she must've sustained a head injury.

Tori smiled devilishly as she calmly walked over to the still dazed Japanese woman and kneed her in the stomach before delivering a brutal blow to her head with her right hook and watched triumphantly as the woman crumpled to the floor. Then she walked out to see how Monkey Fist was coping against Kim.

It was obvious both Kim and Monkey Fist were evenly matched as everything that Kim threw at him he was able to block and vice versa. However, Tori could see that Kim had gained the upper hand for the simple reason that as a young woman in her prime she had the stamina to keep fighting. Monkey Fist was handicapped by the fact he just couldn't land that decisive blow. After several minutes of watching she noticed from the corner of her eye that Monique was finally getting to her feet again.

'Your persistance is admirable,' Tori remarked.

'Shut up, bitch,' Monique spat out as she got to her feet. She rushed for Tori but the Taiwanese woman simply clotheslined her and sent her crashing back to the floor.

Rather than continue wasting time standing around watching the red-haired girl and Monkey Fist fight it out she walked off to find the room where the items that Marx had told her to find. It didn't take long. Using the security guard's key card she swiped it and the door unlocked. Upon walking in she was taken aback by the sheer number of safe deposit boxes in the room. She had to walk along several aisles before she finally found the relevant safe deposit box. Carefully she pulled it out and carried it out of the room. She didn't bother to check the contents because Marx had been quite specific that she was not to do that. He gave no explanation as to why she was not to open it. It was definitely not empty as it was quite heavy.

She stepped out into the corridor to find herself confronted by Kim.

'That's not yours to take.' The red-haired woman stated.

'I presume you will try to stop me.'

Kim laughed derisively. 'Yes.'

'Then let's go for it.'

As Kim and Tori fought for the safe deposit box a small convoy of vehicles drove into Middleton. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about the convoy as the sight of a convoy of cars and vans in this part of the country was common as many defence industries were located in and around Middleton. Only the time raised a few eyebrows among the few motorists who saw it. Inside one of the vehicles was Marx and Bonnie.

Inside another car was Duff Killigan and DNAmy. The two rather rotund individuals disliked each other intensely and said nothing until the instructions came over the car radios to "go do that voodoo you do so well".

They opened up a box they had each been given. Inside the box was a dart gun with a cartridge consisting of ten darts and a mask equipped with night vision goggles. They prepared their weapons, put on their masks and waited as the vehicles pulled up outside the relevant homes. The streets in the neighbourhood where the Possibles and the Loads lived were blacked out by a power cut. That had been arranged about a quarter of an hour earlier.

Upon the words "Blazing Saddles" being announced Killigan and DNAmy jumped out of the car. They rushed up to the front door. DNAmy didn't bother to waste time with knocking on the door. She kicked it off it's hinges.

'Blooming heck, woman! How yoo ever heard of being discreet?' Killigan growled angrily.

Mrs Load appeared in the hallway, brandishing a shotgun. 'You better get out of my home or else I'm gonna -.'

She slumped to the floor as she was hit by a tranquiliser dart in the neck. DNAmy scooped her up from the floor and carried her out to the van that had parked behind their car.

Wade Load was in his bedroom, watching the action unfolding in Monaco when the door to his room was kicked open and startled the boy.

He swung around in his chair but before he had the chance to get to his feet he was knocked out with a dart. Killigan threw the kid over his shoulder with some difficulty. 'This kid really needs to go on a diet,' he growled.

Before he left the room he inserted a flash drive and tapped in a few keys. Within ten seconds a virus was rampaging through the system. All the CCTV cameras in the city and the entire Global Justice network crashed within sixty seconds. With them being blinded there was no way there was any way to track the kidnappers. Wade was tossed into the back of the van unceremoniously.

A car and van pulled up outside the Possible household. Bonnie and Marx got out and walked over to the front door. Marx picked the lock and walked in. The night vision goggles enabled him to sneak through the house undetected. He gestured in sign language to Bonnie. 'Take care of the twins.' She headed to the bedrooms downstairs and walked in on them sleeping. She fired two darts which would ensure they wouldn't wake up. She picked up both twins from their beds and carried them to the van one at a time.

Marx walked up the stairs to the main bedroom. He heard some noises that indicated someone might be awake. He kicked the door open.

Dr James T. Possible cried out, 'What is the meaning of this intrusion?' He then slumped down over his wife's naked body as a dart hit him in the neck. Dr Ann Possible only managed to let off a single scream before she, too, fell silent from a dart being fired. Marx didn't bother dragging them out of the house. He simply threw them out the window and onto the lawn below. Being out cold their bodies were so relaxed they were unharmed by the fall. Marx jumped out after them and he dragged them into the back of the van.

The four vehicles drove away into the night.

Back in Monaco the fight between Kim and Tori had turned ugly. Kim was pinned to the floor by Tori, who was pummelling her face with her fists. Unfortunately for Kim she hadn't expected Tori to slog her with the safe deposit box. She hit the floor with a nasty gash to the head. Tori then pinned the red-haired super hero down by straddling her.

She leaned over the girl and said, 'You know, you look kinda cute in this light.'

Kim head-butted Tori in the nose. 'Sorry, but I don't lean that way.'

Tori punched Kim out cold. She picked up the safe deposit box and walked out the door. She grabbed Monkey Fist and they left the building. They were long gone by the Kim came to, surrounded by Monique and Yori who both looked very much the worse for wear.

'What happened to me?'

'We just got taken down by Monkey Fist and Tori but that's not our biggest problem,' Monique said. 'We've lost contact with Wade and Global Justice has been hit by a virus that has shut down their computers.'

As Kim got to her feet she snarled, 'Marx is so dead.'


	35. Chapter 35

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

The small convoy returned to the lair.

They drove through a concealed tunnel located at the base of Mt Middleton and drove through to an underground garage whereupon the vehicles were surrounded by armed personnel the moment they stopped. Commandant Lyons from Fort Laval was there to make sure there were no problems if the drugs had worn off.

The Possibles were tossed some clothes that had been left behind by Drakken's henchmen and ordered to get dressed, which they did. When they stepped out of the van they were dazed by the bright lights that had been trained on them. The Commandant stated, 'Bienvenue dans votre nouveau domicile. Vous serez escorté à votre quarts où vous serez placés en détention. Toute tentative d'évasion et vous serez fusillé. Maintenant, déplacez le long, s'il vous plaît!'

Dr Ann Possible said, 'This is kidnapping. How can you do this to us and my twin sons? My daughter, Kim Possible, will deal with you. I'm sure you've heard of her.'

'Don't be too sure about that, Dr Possible,' Commandant replied in a voice that left no doubt he both knew of Kim's reputation and, more scarily, he didn't give a damn.

They were led away by several armed personnel, along with Jim and Tim, as the Load family were ordered out of the vehicle they had arrived in. Unlike the Possibles no chances were taken with them because the Commandant knew they were much too dangerous to take at face value

The Commandant stated, 'Bienvenue sur votre nouveau domicile. Ne vous embêtez pas à essayer de s'échapper. Il n'y a rien que vous pouvez faire pour sortir d'ici.'

Mrs Load, who spoke French, answered, 'Si vous faites quelque chose de mal à mon fils, je vais te tuer.'

The Commandant snorted, 'Si vous faites ce qu'on vous dit rien ne vous arrivera.'

She was escorted away but not Wade. He was about to walk off with her when Marx grabbed Wade by the collar but was roughly elbowed by Mrs Load who yelled, 'Oh, no you don't! Where my son goes, I go.'

'He'll be joining you soon enough,' Marx answered. 'I need to ask him a few questions.'

'Like hell he will!'

'You don't get a say in the matter and if you know what is best for the both of you then it would be best to do as you're told.'

Mrs Load swung a punch at Marx but he easily ducked the blow.

Wade shouted, 'Mom! If they were going to do anything really bad to me they would've done it by now. Just do what they say.'

'Are you sure?'

'Yes,' he said as he hugged his mother and accompanied Marx as he led him away towards one of the elevators. Neither spoke as the elevator doors slammed shut.

* * *

The hostages were led through a door and down a corridor flanked by doors at various intervals. They walked until they were ordered to stop before a door. The door opened and the hostages ordered in. Once the door slammed shut behind them they were enveloped in pitch darkness. They fumbled around for a few minutes until they finally found the light switch.

They were genuinely surprised by the quarters that were revealed to them by the light. In the main room was a table, a kitchen with a fully stocked fridge and pantry, a couch and a TV with a DVD player. Through a door was a tiny hallway with doors that led to two bedrooms with a double bed in the first and two single beds in the other and a door that led to a bathroom with a vanity unit, a shower and toilet.

On closer inspection they found the quarters had no windows or doors, other than door they had been pushed through. The ceiling, like the walls, was solid concrete.

Jim Possible pretty much summed it up when he remarked dryly, 'They're going to torture us by driving us insane through boredom.'

* * *

In the lair Marx ordered Wade to take a seat. Wade did so.

'So you're Wade Load. I wanted to meet the brains behind Team Possible.'

Wade answered groggily, 'I don't appreciate being kidnapped.'

'You haven't been kidnapped. You've been taken hostage. Once I have Kim Possible's head mounted on my wall you'll be free to go.'

'Do you really think I'm that naïve?'

'No,' Marx remarked, a wry smile crossing his lips. 'But if I had intended to kill you this conversation would not be taking place. My intention is to deal with Miss Possible. To achieve that, I have to deprive her of your services. Maybe even get information by being a little rough. But, rest assured, you will leave here alive.'

'I'm not going to tell you anything.'

Turning to DNA he said, 'I'm sure you and one of your hideous beasts will be able to persuade him to divulge whatever we need from the geek?'

Grinning maniacally DNAmy answered, 'Oh, yes.'

For the first time since he had used his love ray device on Monique back when she was at high school he felt a real and genuine fear as he heard a low growling from one of the rooms. His fear was tempered by surprise as Bonnie stepped out of the elevator and undressed in front of them before she jumped into the spa pool. He had to admit that Bonnie was a very beautiful woman and, under any other circumstances, he would've found the situation arousing.

Noticing that he was looking at her _that _way she snarled, 'Stop perving at me you little creep!'

Wade didn't say anything. His eyes were focussed on the gorillion that had just entered the main room of the lair. It had the head of a lion and the body of a gorilla and it was the most terrifying beast he had ever seen. This was a creature created from the most hideous genetic experimentations.


	36. Chapter 36

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

The Monegasque police officer cleaned up the last of the cuts as he stated, 'Thank you, Miss Possible, for thwarting the robbery of the bank's safe deposit boxes. From what we could tell only one box was stolen.'

'Just the one?' Kim asked.

'Yes,' he stated, sounding rather puzzled. 'But the odd thing was the deposit box contained nothing of any value.'

Kim raised an eyebrow. 'What was in it?'

'Normally I would not be able to tell you but the last owner died a few years ago but according to bank records it only contained some documents.'

'Documents?'

'I can't say what they were because no record was ever kept of what they were of.'

'Why would Monkey Fist and Tori be after documents?'

Yori suggested, 'Perhaps Shego-sen could, as you Americans say, shed some light on what they could be looking after?'

'Shego's more into money and shiny things rather than documents,' Kim mused but I guess it couldn't hurt.'

She thanked the officer and the three women walked back home. Something was bothering her. Since they had arrived at the bank they had lost contact with Wade. Several times both herself and Monique tried to contact him but they couldn't do it. They even tried ringing him on a landline just in case his computer had been infected by the same virus that had attacked Global Justice but there was no success. Despite her unease she didn't think it was a serious problem as communications failures had been a major problem since the Lorwardian attack had destroyed most of the world's satellites.

When they walked into the apartment they were surprised to find Shego awake, dressed in her bunny rabbit slippers and night gown, grabbing some stuff from the refrigerator to make a sandwich. It did not go unnoticed by Monique that she was naked underneath the undone gown.

'Couldn't sleep, huh?' Monique asked as she also raided the refrigerator. She grabbed a bottle of something alcoholic.

'No,' Shego answered as she made herself a roast lamb sandwich. 'I can't contact Kim's parents.'

Kim exclaimed, 'Why were you calling my parents? And why couldn't you reach them?'

'They're the only people who know and trust Wade. I don't know why I couldn't reach them but it wasn't because of any problems with the phone network.'

'How do you know that?'

'I didn't go straight to voice mail.'

Yori suggested, 'Is it possible the bank robbery was a distraction? That would explain why they would've stolen a box with only a few papers in them.'

Shego said, 'What do you mean "Just a few papers"?'

'The police officer said they only stole one box and it had only documents in it but the bank had no idea what they were.'

'What was the number of the safe deposit box?'

Kim said, '3445.'

Taking her sandwich with her she said, 'I'm sure it was a distraction. I'm just going to check something on the computer.' She winked at Monique who followed the woman into the bedroom. They took a seat at the computer and Shego tapped away furiously on the machine.

'I didn't take you for a geek,' Monique said.

'Shut up, beautiful,' Shego growled as she pulled up some records from the bank. As she read the web page she went several shades paler. 'Oh, shit. This is really bad.'

Monique gazed at Shego, perplexed. 'What's up, girlfriend?'

'I've just discovered what they stole.' Shego quickly got changed into her trademark black and green body suit. As she did so she said, 'He's planning to build a V-2 rocket.'

'Isn't that one of those rockets that the Nazis built during the Second World War?'

'Yeah.'

'But aren't they obsolete?'

'It doesn't matter if they're obsolete. It might only have a short range but if Marx has access to a dirty nuclear device he can take out any place within 200 miles of Drakken's lair in Mt Middleton. Denver is 72 miles from there.'

Monique gulped as the implications of that sunk in. Her brother was in Denver finishing his PhD at the University of Denver. She grabbed her mobile phone and tried his land line. There was no answer as Shego off the call.

'Don't bother. I've been trying to contact him but I can't. I even called his landline but no one is answering.'

'Maybe he has a date.'

Shego rolled her green eyes at her girlfriend. 'This is Wade we're talking about. He's not exactly, uh, girlfriend material.'

'Ouch! And I thought I was mean.'

Monique watched as Shego quickly pulled on her boots and dashed out the door, her face etched with something she had never seen before. She was genuinely afraid. In the living room she saw both Kim and Yori watching the television.

A solemn looking announcer stated, '… the Middleton Police Department stated that the world renowned rocket scientist Dr James Possible, his world famous neurosurgeon wife Dr Ann Possible and their two teenage sons Jim and Tim were snatched from their homes by unidentified intruders. Neighbours remarked they were taken away in vans and "looked as if they had been drugged". Middleton Police Chief Nathan McCurdy also stated that a similar kidnapping had taken place at another address but he would not comment on who they were and what the motives of the kidnappers were as no ransom demands have been made. It has been suggested the kidnappers may have been carried out by a gang connected to ex-pirate Kevin Marx...'

Shego turned off the television, stating, 'Well, at least we know why we can't contact Wade.'

The colour had drained from Kim's face, making her look sickly pale. She got up from the sofa muttering 'I… I… We need to get back to Middleton to save them.'

For a moment Shego fell silent. Then she slapped her forehead hard with her palm. She pushed Kim back onto the couch. 'The bank deposit box theft was a diversion. Anyone can download the plans for a V-2 rocket from the Internet. He was sending us a message. He's taken your parents and Wade because he knows you will come to save them. Are you sure you're ready to fight him in your state?'

Kim gazed at Shego with an intensity that frightened even Shego. 'That bastard has my family. If he wants a fight, he's going to get it. I'm going after him.'

'No,' Shego corrected her. '_We _are going after him.'


	37. Chapter 37

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Yori often felt somewhat left out when the other girls began to talk about things like cosmetics and fashion. As much as she tried he simply couldn't get worked up about the latest Platinum lipstick or the hottest fashions from the Club Banana label on the plane. She simply retreated to the back of the aircraft to train as much as the limitations of the aircraft would allow. However, from time to time, she would pause to listen in to the conversation, just in case there was something juicy to overhear but she was invariably disappointed. About the only "excitement" was watching Shego undo her body suit enough so she could show Kim her newest bra and panties from Victoria's Closet. 'It's an original but I got it for a mere €350! Can you believe it?'

It wasn't as if she hadn't seen Shego and the others in various stages of undress. The girls often went up to the roof of the apartment block to sunbathe in bikinis, with the exception of Shego, who preferred to wear more modest swimwear. Even after four months she still could not believe how well the four of them seemed to get on and, if she was to be honest, she was getting jealous. She desperately wanted to enjoy the same sort of intimacy enjoyed between the other three girls, especially Monique and Shego.

As they got closer to their destination the conversation died down as the girls turned to the more important issues at hand.

Kim groaned, 'I asked Wade to make the battle suit less clingy. Look, you can see my nipples through this thing.'

Shego chuckled. 'The Princess' secret weapon of mass distraction: her nipple revealing battle suit!'

Kim groaned at the lameness of the joke. At least he did add the other feature she'd asked for. Tapping on her arm she changed the colour from its default setting of white to a brown-green camouflage colour, in part because a darker single colour tended to attract too much attention from those who thought she was a latex-wearing fetishist or, worse, into bondage and discipline. This colour scheme made her look more military, although it didn't compliment her red hair at all.

Suddenly turning serious Shego began what Yori sarcastically called her "pep" talk to the group. Like Mr Barkin she stood up in front of everyone. Using a white board taped to the side of the cabin she explained the sitch to the group.

'Marx is most likely to have kept the basic outlay that Drakken used when he owned the lair so I expect the cells to be at the bottom. They will be guarded by some of his thugs but they'll be easy enough to deal with. Henchmen are pretty much the same the world over: they'll fight only until they get hurt then they're gone.'

She was interrupted by Monique asking, 'Does he still have those flower thingies growing around his neck?'

Irritably she answered, 'Yes. Try to focus, buffoon.'

Monique sulked and said virtually nothing more. Shego continued: 'I'm sure Princess can take down Marx. Drakken is mine. Monique can sort out Monkey Fist.'

Monique inquired, 'What if we bump into Bonnie or Tori?'

'Bump back hard,' Shego answered coldly.

An announcement came over the public address system. 'We're coming into Colorado air space. Please grab your parachutes and prepare to jump.'

'Oh, man!' Monique whined. She'd been jumping out of aircraft for years but she still hated it as much as she did when she jumped for the first time but she still grabbed her parachute, as did the others.

The aircraft began to descend as the cargo door at the back began to lower. Shego gave an increasingly apprehensive Monique an encouraging kiss on the lips. It took a few minutes before the cargo door was fully opened. With a shrug of her shoulders Monique jumped first, followed by Kim. Yori was pushed out by Shego who jumped out last. Four parachutes opened as they cleared the aircraft.

In the cockpit the pilot put through a coded radio signal. 'Mahomet et ses apôtres sont sur le chemin de la montagne.'

It was the perfect landing for most of them, except for Monique who forgot to roll when they hit the ground. But they were able to get themselves sorted out quickly, making sure their parachutes were folded up and packed into their backpacks. Then they reassembled as a group before they made their way across the farm paddocks towards the mountain where Marx's lair was located. They saw no sign of guards or patrols anywhere. This was unsurprising as super villains usually didn't bother with such things as they gave away the fact there was a secret lair in the area, although Shego had always found it amusing that on the main road to the mountain was a road sign stating "SECRET LAIR".

It took the best part of an hour before they reached the lair itself. Still no guards or CCTV cameras could be seen. This left both Kim and Shego confused.

'Is this the right mountain?' Kim queried.

'I'm pretty sure it is,' Shego answered. 'But it's changed.'

Yori suddenly yelled, 'Hey! Someone's shooting at -.' She slumped to the ground. A dart could be seen protruding from her leg.

Shego screamed, 'Ambush! Find somewhere to hide!'

But there was nowhere to hide. There were no trees or rocks to hide amongst so all they could do was to dive to the ground and bury themselves in the snow. Another shot was fired but it missed its intended target. It landed between Monique's legs, terrifying the girl. A few more darts flew past, landing at various points around Kim and Shego but it seemed to both females that whoever was shooting at them wasn't a particularly good shot.

Kim caught a glimpse of something flashing in the sunlight.

Tapping Shego on the foot she pointed to where she saw the flash. Shego fired up her green plasma and fired two blasts in rapid succession. She heard girlish screams. Cautiously the two crept along until they saw the hole that had once been the entrance to the lair. In the midst of the rubble were three girls barely older than Kim, dressed in the uniform of the Organisation. They had been hurt but not enough to cause serious injury. Shego grabbed one of the rifles and checked it out: a tranquilizer gun of a high calibre. She allowed herself a wry smile.

'What's so amusing?' Kim queried.

'Typical of Marx to use a New Zealand invention,' she answered. 'It's a rifle patented by Colin Murdoch in the 1950s.'

'Never heard of him,' Kim stated dismissively.

'Virtually no one has,' Shego answered as she bashed the moaning girl she snatched it from unconscious. 'He invented the tranquilizer gun and the disposable hypodermic syringe.'

With a wave of the hand she indicated to Monique to follow them through the entrance tunnel into the lair. And, for once, even Shego was rendered speechless as they found themselves in a garage with dozens of car parks. They walked across it, surprised there was no one present to challenge them, but taking no chances for Shego knew Augen was always one to deliver an unexpected surprise or two. It took a good few minutes before they reached the end of the garage. At the elevator they paused.

Kim was just about to press the button when Shego flamed up her hands. She had seen the numbers on the display counting down.

The elevator pinged.

The doors opened.


	38. Chapter 38

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

And Bonnie stepped out.

She pepper-sprayed Kim in the face before the surpried teenager had a chance to react. The burning sensation in her eyes made her scream loud enough to drown out the sound of Drakken stepping out of the elevator. He punched her once in the face, knocking her out cold.

Bonnie and Drakken faced off against Monique and Shego.

As Bonnie slipped the pepper spray canister to Drakken he said, 'Leave Shego to me.'

Shego snarled, 'I see you've become Marx's sidekick.'

Drakken remarked contemptuously, 'I really should've killed you when I had the chance.'

'You never did think ahead, Dr D.'

'Oh, contraire, Miss Sharon Go, I did think ahead,' Drakken remarked icily. 'While you were tanning your arse in Monte Carlo Marx talked me into going green in my evil endeavours.' His eyes narrowed as his toothy grin grew bigger.

Shego lit up her hands with her green plasma flames but, before she managed to unleash them, a loud crash behind her distracted her long enough to allow Drakken to whack her between the eyes with the canister, causing her plasma flames to die out.

Though this was an annoyance she didn't see it as a major problem as most of her training with Team Possible had not involved using her powers but on enhancing her kung fu and street fighting skills in the event Marx managed to disable her powers as he had done previously.

'I may have lost my powers, Drew Lipski, but I haven't lost my ability to fight.'

'Somehow I doubt that.'

Angrily Shego rushed forward but slipped over in the olive oil that now coated the garage floor. Behind her an accident between a delivery truck bringing in olive oil for the Mediterranean-based diets virtually every all the henchmen ate and an SUV had ruptured the olive oil container, spilling its contents across the garage floor. Neither she nor Drakken had paid enough attention to the accident to notice the oil.

Shego yelped, 'What the hell…?'

Drakken beamed as he saw her land hard on her butt, his toothy sneer dominating his face.

He yelled, 'Flowers! Strangle Shego!'

Vines decorated with flowers shot out from his neck. Shego attempted to avoid them but she couldn't get a hold on the slippery floor to do more than slide hopelessly in the olive oil. The vines wrapped themselves around her neck in a vice-like grip. The former sidekick tried to loosen the vines but it didn't work. They wouldn't let go, even when she slashed them with her razor sharp fingernails.

'Please, Dr D, for old times' sake, let me go,' she pleaded to her former boss but all he did was look straight through her with the same indifferent callousness that he looked upon the many innocent people who'd suffered at his hands over the years. As she felt the vines squeezing tighter she could only gasp one final plea, 'Please don't kill me.' But Drakken had long passed the point when he was in a forgiving mood as far as she was concerned.

'Give my regards to your mo-.'

Drakken was cut off abruptly by a knee to his testicles from Kim, who'd recovered from the pepper spray in the eyes and the nose breaking blow delivered by Drakken only moments before. His vines suddenly relaxed, allowing Shego to remove the vines from around her neck.

'Kim Possible, you think you're all that but you most certainly are not,' Drakken remarked in a high pitched squeak, the pain shooting through his body agonising beyond comprehension.

'That's what you think,' Kim said as she delivered a blow that would've knocked out a heavyweight boxer to the man's jaw. It made him stagger back towards the elevator but didn't knock him out that a punch like that used to.

She snarled, 'Man, since when did you get so strong?'

'Since I discovered working out,' he hissed as he aimed a kick at Kim's shin. It hurt her enough to make her cry out but it didn't stop her from punching Drakken twice more before he slumped to the floor, unconscious.

Bonnie and Monique were doing their darnedest to tear each others hair out and pummel each other's heads into the concrete floor. Blood, skin and clumps of hair flew in all directions as they rolled around on the ground, each trying to pin the other down but neither able to do so because they were coated in olive oil from the accident which made them slither all over the place, which only added to their mutual frustration.

'You always were a bitch, Bonnie!' Monique yelled as she head butted Bonnie in the mouth, cutting one of her lips. The blood splattered Monique's face. Using her hips she managed to throw off Bonnie and pin her down on the ground.

'Who are you calling bitch?' Bonnie snarled as Monique bashed her head hard against the concrete until she began seeing double.

In the course of their fight Monique's shirt had been ripped, which had given Bonnie the idea of using an interrogation technique on her adversary's breasts taught to her by Commandant Lyons at Fort Laval. It brought forth a howling scream from Monique. 'At Fort Laval they call that the torsion du mamelon.'

Bonnie's skirt had been ripped up one side revealing black panties that were definitely not Club Banana. Monique crowed, 'I see you've gone down in the world. You're shopping at Smarty Mart for your lingerie.'

That earned Monique a punch in the mouth.

Monique managed a smile.

Bonnie was now realising her enemy was not as useless as she had expected her. Between her legs she could feel the muscles of the girl squirming so it was obvious she had been working out but who the hell had trained her? Virtually every girl she had fought, even at Fort Laval, would've given up by now but something was driving the girl to keep fighting.

From the accident site someone screamed, 'Fuck! The fuel tank's gonna go!'

Everyone, except the unconscious Drakken, scrambled to their feet and made a run for it. Bonnie was still in a lot of pain from the head butting but the idea of being blasted to hell or burned alive in that oil proved to be a greater incentive to move. She rushed across the garage to a dry part of the garage and took cover behind a concrete pillar while Bonnie and Shego ran for the nearest doorway.

The car exploded. The explosion ignited the olive oil. The burning olive oil set fire to some of the other vehicles in the garage. Bonnie caught sight of a truck with a red flag on it, which indicated it carried live ammunition.

'Fucking hell! That truck's got live -.'

The truck exploded in a spectacular fireball. Part of the roof of the garage caved in, crushing the most of the cars that hadn't been destroyed by the fireball. Choking dust blinded everyone. Once the dust had cleared away enough to see Monique breathed a sigh of relief. 'That was a close one,' she said.

Shego didn't answer.

Neither did Kim.

She turned to see Kim had turned a sickly white colour. Her battle suit and face was splattered with blood.

'Oh my God,' the Afro-American girl screamed. 'You've been hit!'

Kim shook her head and pointed.

Following the direction of her finger she saw Shego, her body riddled with bullets. When the truck she had copped the full force of the blast. She was still breathing but only just.

Shego gestured to Monique to lean over.

With tears streaming down her eyes she did so.

In a rasping voice Shego said, 'I love you Monique Jacqueline Stanley. Meeting you was the most wonderful thing ever to happen to me.'

'Oh, no, girlfriend,' Monique sobbed. 'You are not going to die on me. Uh-uh. No way. You're going to get through this.'

But Shego said, 'No, I won't.'

Shego reached out to touch her lover's face one last time.

Monique pleaded, 'Please don't die.'

But Shego wasn't listening anymore. Her arm fell to her side. The green eyes faded as the life in the body went out like a dying flame, leaving Monique sobbing for her best friend, confidante and lover.

Kim tried to find something to say but her best friend cut her off and said, 'Get that lousy [censored].'

The long string of expletives that Monique blurted out shocked even Bonnie. Then she collapsed into Kim's arms as she wept. While Kim was distracted Bonnie slipped away. She had no desire to be on the receiving end of Kim's temper.

She got as far as a collapsed concrete beam when she heard the sound of chattering monkeys.

'What the -?'

'Hey, Bon-Bon,' an all too familiar voice rang out.

'_Ron?'_


	39. Chapter 39

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Ron said, 'I'm too much of a gentleman to hit a lady.'

Bonnie was pummelled by a still rather groggy Yori carrying a long piece of steel. She slumped to the ground, lifeless.

They both climbed over to the rubble.

Kim wet herself in shock when she heard that familiar voice she hadn't heard in years. 'Hey, KP, what happened?'

'Ron?' She stammered as Ron appeared in front of her.

'I'm back. I've missed you, KP.'

Kim rushed over and punched him out cold.

She screamed furiously, 'For nearly three fucking years you led me to believe you were dead and you think that you can walk back into my life with a fancy light show and a few glib words? Have you got any idea what you put me through, you lousy bastard?' She kicked him a couple of times in the stomach. Then she turned on Yori. 'What the hell are you looking at? You knew all along he was alive!'

Yori lied effortlessly when she said, 'This is the first time I've seen him in years, Possible-sen.' Looking around her she asked, 'What happened?'

'Shego's dead,' Kim answered, indicating the direction where Shego was.

She queried, 'Drakken?'

'No,' Kim answered. 'Exploding ammo truck.'

'Ouch,' she whistled. 'Let's go and kick some Marx ass.'

By a miracle the elevator door opened. As Yori stepped toward the elevator Kim grabbed her arm. 'No. This is between me and Marx. You need to find my family and Wade and take care of Monique. Right now, they need you more than I do.'

She protested but Kim reached over and kissed her on the cheek.

Yori said, 'But, Possible-sen, I don't want you face him alone.'

'It's something I have to do without you, Yori.'

She stepped into the elevator car and waved as the doors closed shut.

In the cells everyone felt the lair shake. Dr James Possible remarked, 'Kimmie-cub must be here.'

Jim and Tim both cried out jubilantly, 'Boo yah!'

Wade gazed up anxiously at a crack that suddenly appeared in the ceiling. 'I hope we don't get killed in the fall out.'

He put his hands in his pocket and, to his surprise, he found an iPhone in his pocket. He'd forgotten that when he was kidnapped he was about to head down to get something from the only electronic store still open in Middleton late at night. As was always the case when he left the house he took a iPhone with him so he could be contacted in an emergency.

Marx's goons hadn't searched him as they had assumed that anything he had on him would be of no practical use in such a hermitically sealed place.

When he turned it on he was disappointed to find it could not pick up any reception. Angrily he flung it on his bed and returned to watching the television. Flicking through the television channels he realised many of the channels, particularly the foreign ones, were satellite stations. Many satellite television networks enabled people to use a remote to book pay-per-view movies. Turning to Dr James Possible he said, 'Give me your credit card.'

The rocket scientist looked at him curiously. 'Why?'

Wade pointed to the light fittings, implying they were being bugged. He said, 'I want to order a movie.'

'I don't have a credit card on me.'

Mrs Load said, 'But I do. Just as well I had my wallet on me.'

She handed him her credit card and watched as Wade typed in the details. He inserted a quick message that would be understood by anyone seeing his details on a computer screen. At least he hoped so. Once he had hit "SEND" he waited.

He also hunted around the cell to find if there was any way he could open the doors by doing something with the electrics but it took only a short time before he had to concede these guys had built what amounted to the perfect cell: it was escape proof. He would only be able to get out if someone broke him out. That meant having to wait for Kim and the others. In the meantime he was at least able to watch the movie he watched with his mother and the Possibles.

In the cell he had lost all track of time but he guessed it was early evening if the news broadcast was any indication.

In the garage Ron finally got back on his feet. He wasn't entirely surprised by Kim's outburst but he was by the savagery of it. He got up and staggered towards a stairway. He was joined by Yori.

Monique was following close behind. Unlike Kim her reaction had been more muted because she was still in shock from the killing of her beloved Shego. The three people walked down the stairs until they reached a corridor. In the way were three heavily armed security guards. Without a word Ron used his mystical monkey powers and blasted the security doors opened. The security guards just dropped their weapons and raised their hands. Yori grabbed their security swipe cards.

They quickly worked out the cells that were occupied had a blue light on above the door. There were only a few lights on. They opened the cell doors that had lights on above their doors until they opened one of the doors and Dr Ann Possible screamed delightedly, 'Ron!'

Wade cried out as he rushed over to hug his old friend. 'It's been a while since I heard your voice.'

Then Monique walked in. She had obviously been crying. Her face was also swollen from various scratches and bruises. Her scalp was bleeding from the clumps that Bonnie had torn out. But what surprised him most was she was coated in olive oil.

'Uh, hi, Monique,' Wade said.

Monique ignored him.

'If you need to clean up they provide an excellent shower here unless, of course, we should get out of here pronto.'

Monique didn't answer.

Turning to Ron he asked worriedly, 'What's up with Mon?'

'Shego's dead,' Ron answered.

'Why should she be upset by -?' Dr Ann Possible asked until she saw the expression on Monique's face. 'Oh, I didn't realise. Was it Marx who killed her?'

'No. Exploding ammo truck.'

'Oh,' Wade murmured, not really sure how to express his sympathies to Monique but hurting all the same as he saw the very real emotional anguish written on her face.

Monique seemed to be in a daze, looking around the cell, but not registering anything. Then she retreated to the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind her.

Ron laid a supporting hand on Wade's shoulder. 'I think we should give her some space.' He added, 'You'd better get everyone out of here. If you run into anyone just say you're on the way to the garage to clean up the mess. You'll understand when you get there. I'm going to stay behind and look after Mon.'

Wade asked, 'Where's Kim?'

'Fighting Marx,' he answered bitterly. 'She wasn't exactly pleased to see me after all this time.'

Wade said, 'She's right to be angry.'

He gestured to the others to follow him, which they did as he seemed to have the best idea as to where they were.

Ron barged into the bathroom to find Monique sobbing on the shower floor as the water washed away the blood and the oil that had soaked into everything. He stepped in and comforted her with kind words, knowing from his own experience they couldn't comfort her. He cradled her head in his arms and let her pour out her emotions in words he couldn't quite work out as she seemed to switch between English, French and another language he was unfamiliar with.

They were surprised when Yori said, 'Come, Stoppable-san, we need to find Possible-sen.'

Both Monique and Ron got up and accompanied her to the elevator where the Load and Possible families were waiting for her. Despite the damage the elevators were still working. It pinged they all got on board. It was one of those large industrial ones capable of carrying both heavy equipment and large groups of people.

No one spoke as the elevator began to edge its way up to the main floor.


	40. Chapter 40

CHAPTER FORTY

The elevator doors opened.

Kim expected bright lights, doomsday machines and bustling activity of henchmen doing whatever it was they did. What she saw took her breath away.

The late afternoon sunlight streamed through huge picture windows, making the lair look more like a home. Strictly functional furniture had been placed around the floor, each placed to give them a commanding view through the picture windows and the home entertainment system dwarfed anything she had ever seen before. And in the middle of it was a spa pool.

Sitting in a leather sofa chair was Marx, reading a book about the International Law of the Sea.

In the flesh Marx was nothing like what she had expected. With the exception of Carmille Léon all the super villains wore a trademark wardrobe that instantly identified them so she was taken aback by surprise when she saw he wore a plain white coloured shirt and black slacks rather than what he wore on television. He couldn't look more ordinary if he tried. That totally ordinary wardrobe had the unexpected effect of making her look ridiculous in her battle suit.

His eyes peered over the top of the book. Kim suddenly understood the reason for why Shego was so scared of him. His eyes were cold, grey stones that locked onto her with such intensity it terrified her. They made her feel like crawling into a corner and screaming until those eyes stopped looking at her. But, no, she had to bite down on her lower lip and endure whatever he threw at her.

'Hello, Kimberly,' he said as he put down the book. 'I trust the welcoming committee was to your expectations.'

'I've had better,' she answered.

'Super villain protocol requires me to explain in graphic detail what I intend to do to you but I can't be bothered,' he stated in a voice so silky smooth it made the hairs on Kim's neck stand on end. 'I prefer to get on with it.'

'Suits me fine,' Kim stated.

'But, before I do that, I need to take off my shirt. It cost me over €300 and trying to remove blood from clothes can be such a bitch.'

'Tell me about it,' Kim agreed. 'Luckily the blood just washes off my battle suit.' She waited until he had taken off his shirt and placed it on his sofa before she assumed her kick ass pose.

'Come on, Kimberly,' he mocked. 'Don't give me that nonsense. This isn't Queensbury Rules. Just get on with it.'

Kim rolled her eyes and did one of her classic flying cheerleading kicks but to her surprise he stepped aside at the last second and she missed, crashing into his table. She swore under her breath as she got back on her feet. He waited until she was back on her feet before gesturing to her to come and get him, his grin serving to mock her. That made the teenager growl with frustration.

'Not bad for a villain,' she remarked sarcastically.

'I hope you have more to offer. Killing you after such a poor performance would be such a let down.'

'We wouldn't want that to happen, would we?' Kim remarked dryly as she unleashed a steady stream of punches which he managed to avoid with ease, except where it was obvious he had let her hit him. This taunting was starting to grate on her nerves but unleashing another flurry of punches did little other than to amuse him and tire her.

'On Youtube your battle suit gives you quite an edge. Of course, it helps when most villains are too busy perving at your tits to focus on kicking your butt.'

Marx delighted in watching Kim turned bright red with embarrassment and glance down at her breasts for a moment, which was all he needed to deliver an upper cut to her jaw and kick her hard enough in the stomach to wind her. He then tripped her up, sending her crashing down hard on her butt. She rolled out of the way as he aimed a kick at her. She jumped to her feet.

'Impressive. Pity I can't say the same about your breasts.'

'Other men like them.'

'But not as much as he liked Yori's rack. I guess that's why he took so long before letting you know he was still alive and kicking.'

Kim's face flushed purple with rage. 'Bastard,' she said as she did a kung fu kick but, this time, he didn't dodge her kick but grabbed one of her feet and used her momentum to swing her around. He let go, barely disguising his delight as she landed in the spa pool with a very loud splash that felt to her like slamming into concrete. His delight turned to surprise as her body suit let off a series of loud bangs and an impressive display of electrical arcing and sparks as it shorted out.

Kim let out a terrified scream, certain her suit was going to fry her.

Marx waited at the side of the pool until his adversary had managed to get over the shock of her suit shorting out and climb out of the pool, his creepy grin that had not left his face since they had begun fighting still firmly in place.

To Kim it seemed the grin was mocking her. Angrily she punched him in the face, causing him to stumble back. She unleashed a few more punches that also hit him in the face but never enough to do him any harm as he always moved his face in tandem with the blow, thus ensuring as little real damage as possible. This only served to make her so furious she lost her composure and used a variety of king fu moves that served only to tire her out until she was barely able to move.

This was the moment he grabbed her throat in a vice-like grip and began to choke her. Only now did the grin disappear but the intensity of his gaze didn't.

Frantically, Kim tried to get him to loosen his grip by clawing at his hands, squirming and twisting her body but to no prevail. Her face turned red. Her eyes began watering. Then her face turned purple as she tried to breathe. She managed to squeeze out the words, 'Why are you doing this?'

'You dishonoured me and my crew,' he hissed. 'We were the first to take down the Lorwardian machines and you didn't bother to acknowledge our contribution. I got a Gold Star Order from the Vietnamese government and a pardon for heroism. You got all the credit, simply because you were an American.'

Kim gasped, 'You're doing this to me because of that?'

'There's nothing more valuable to a pirate than his honour. If you dishonour us, you pay with your life.'

As she felt his anger grow and his grip get tighter she resigned herself to the probability she was going to die. She sighed and said, 'I'm sorry that you didn't receive the credit you were due for fighting the Lorwardians but - .'

'What did you say?' Marx asked her incredulously.

'I'm sorry.'

Then something she didn't expect happened.

He said, 'That's all I wanted to hear.'

Kim's jaw dropped incredulously as he let go. Marx whistled and was joined by Tori who linked arms with him.

'Is that it? You're just going to walk out of here? No epic fight until one of us is dead? No horrible demise or anything? Just this lame anti-climax where we don't even get some self-righteous justification for your actions or a last moment admission that you saw the error of your ways?'

Marx smiled at Kim as he patted her cheek patronisingly. 'There's a very smart British rock band who once sang "You can't always get what you want but if you try sometimes, well, you might find you get what you need." . And they're right. I got what I needed. I want to kill you but this is neither the place nor the time.'

She watched as Marx and Tori leapt through the picture windows in a spectacular shower of shattered glass and disappeared from view just as the elevator door opened and Ron stepped out. He was surrounded by Jim and Tim, her parents, Yori and Monique and Wade and his mother. She was suddenly overwhelmed with gratitude and joy that all the people she loved more than anyone else in the world was now at her side.

As she was surrounded by those who loved her she finally understood that, for now, this adventure was over.

THE END

AUTHOR'S NOTE - Thank you to everyone who read my story. To those lovely people who favourited this story allow me to offer me to offer a bigger thank you.

The song lyrics quoted in this chapter are © Rolling Stones and come from their song "You Can't Always Get What You Need."

Kim Possible characters are © Disney.

All other characters, including Tori (Chen Guiyang) and Kevin Marx, are mine.


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